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Gary, My cardiologist is an interventional cardiologist so he performed the procedure at Missouri Baptist in the cath lab. He did a femoral entry in the groin area. I was awake the whole time and there was no issue no pain. They were clear if there was pain that they wanted to know about it. He put/used a dissolvable plug in the puncture so there were no sutures. You need to take it easy after the catheterization and drink plenty of water to get the dye out of your system. I know there must be very cable interventional cardiologists at CC.

You will be on your way to recovery before you know it. Donor sweat the heart catherization. It was pretty easy. I was medicated some and only felt tugging. Had some bruising in groin area. That went away in a few weeks. So try to relax and not worry. One of my heart sisters on the site, mentioned worrying is not good for the heart. She suggested I use my energy on enjoying each day, and focusing on the positive. This wonderful heart community is here for you. Good luck with everything! Mia

Gary, sorry to hear you haver another bump in your journey. I would talk to your surgeon and see what his recommendation is. I would think it would be best to take care of the procedure for the carcinoma first. That's just what my opinion is. Of course I am not a physician. The other thing that is always recommended is to have any dental procedures done before valve surgery. My surgeon made me start premedication again before dental treatments or any surgeries. Hi

Gary, sorry to hear you haver another bump in your journey. I would talk to your surgeon and see what his recommendation is. I would think it would be best to take care of the procedure for the carcinoma first. That's just what my opinion is. Of course I am not a physician. The other thing that is always recommended is to have any dental procedures done before valve surgery. My surgeon made me start premedication again before dental treatments or any surgeries. Hi

Found a nice video on the web site that talked about the procedure below. I did not mention that they do collapse the right lung to get better access to the atrium. I had no issue with lung reinflation and had full capacity the day after surgery. The major incision was made in the right armpit. Here is the link . http://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/videos/robotic-heart-surgery-harold-roberts-md.php

Gary: Robotic surgery was not decided for me until after I was present in the OR. They did perform CT/angiogram and ultrasound testing of both femoral arteries during the testing phase before surgery but Dr. Gillinov could not tell me which surgery was going to be performed when I met with him on the Friday before my surgery on Monday. I am not sure if this is a standard practice, but that was my personal experience. There was a discussion about performing the safest procedure. I understand that the size/physiology of some folks femoral arteries can eliminate them as candidates for this type of surgery because the cannulation is done through the femoral artery as opposed to the chest using a more standard sternotomy approach. Let me know if you want any references on this information as I did look into this to better understand the risks of robotic surgery compared to a sternotomy. Both femoral artery areas were prepped preop and my chest was also marked in case they were going to perform a minimally invasive sternotomy.