Kristen's Journal

Hi, I had my open heart mitral valve repair on August 19th, 2015 and it went well for the most part. They had to repair both my anterior and posterior leaflets and the connecting cords as well since they were all stretched out. They had trouble getting the right side of my heart to pump following surgery, which required use of the paddles and a balloon put into the right side of my heart for the first 24-48 hours to support my heart until the right side got stronger. Now within the last month to month and a half I can feel and hear my sternum popping, shifting, and a cracking type feeling with any type of movement, even just breathing. My surgeon ordered an x-ray of my chest about a week ago which he said looked fine, but is now ordering a CT scan of my chest due to the popping, cracking and moving feeling that keeps happening, as well as a sharp pain to the lower left side of my sternum that happens with certain movements or pressure on that area. I am also having an accompanying sharp pain in between my shoulder blades but more to the right side. Has anyone experienced anything similar? I am completely lost at what this could be. Any info would help!

I was in the E.R. on Sunday (overnight in observation) was having bad palpitations, weakness, and shortness of breath...more so than usual. Everything ended up being fine other than what we already know which is that I have bi-leaflet mitral valve prolapse with severe regurgitation; so both leaflets have to be repaired. I finally got a call from the surgeons office today; my consultation with him will be on Monday, July 20th, 2015 at 2:30pm. I am now, officially, nervous. I am starting to feel a lot more comfortable though with my surgeon, I've heard great things about him, and my research is paying off since I've been able to find out better things about him. I look forward to having my heart fixed; I definitely don't look forward to recovering from open heart surgery, but it is what it is.

I just had my TEE and Angiogram done on July 2, 2015...I definitely have to have Mitral Valve repair of both the anterior and posterior leaflets, and it will be done by open heart surgery. I'm trying to find out more about my surgeon, Dr. Daniel Ciaburri in Peoria, IL, formerly from New York...I'm having trouble finding any patient reviews of him, which is making me rather nervous. Any tips or ideas?

I just heard from my Cardiologist office yesterday and they said they're sending out the paperwork regarding my pretesting which is coming up on July 2nd! I have to have a TEE (Transesophageal Echocardiogram) and an Angiogram done that day so the doctors can get a better look at my valves. I've never had either of these tests before so, naturally, I'm a little nervous.