Shelly's Journal

Kimberly Eisenhut  If you don't mind me asking where was your surgery and who was your surgeon? My daughter lives in Janesville WI and she keeps trying to get me to move out that way as I am now in McHenry Ill. I tell her I do not want to leave my cardiologist and Northwestern in Chicago and wonder about how the hospitals in WI are. I do hope you get some answers and please never feel you are being a bother to the PA or DR. They are supposed to be there to answer your questions and take care of you. If they do not want to do that it would be my suggestion that they find another career. Please keep us posted and if you ever need to vent or chat, please feel free to reach out to me. I have not had my surgery yet, but mine is very rarely done as it is my tricuspid valve that leaks moderate to severely and outcomes are not good so they wait until it is severe. Best wishes to you and your husband

Richard Munson  Kim: heartbroken. Here i thought you were going to move out east to be closer to your heart valve father/ big brother/ key ring user. 

Yumiko Ishida  Sorry you had to go through that, Shelly. Perhaps they were confident they could manage the situation, didn’t know your background, and thought it was better not to worry you or your family?

Marie Myers  Unfortunately, bleeding is always a possibility with open heart surgery. I my case, i was “oozing” a little too much, so the doc kept me in the OR on the table ( for observation) for an extra couple hours. I don’t remember a thing, of course… When the bleeding slowed down to an expected  level, i was transferred to ICU where i woke up an hour or so later. I was lucky that they didn’t have to go back in, but that does happen sometimes. My surgeon spoke to my husband at the end of surgery, and told him i had been kept in the OR for observation. 
   Pretty much everyone goes home pretty anemic. The anesthesia team will  only transfuse what they absolutely must to maintain BP and perfusion. It took me a couple months to get my hemoglobin back up,  and that is normal for post-op heart surgery. If you had excessive bleeding and blood loss, that would explain the use of platelets, extra blood, and fresh frozen plasma. It is an acknowledged risk of heart surgery. Sometimes the meds and supplements we are on can increase bleeding in any type of surgery, so it is always important to let the doctors know exactly what meds and supplements you take. It is a good idea to go off any supplements that you can at least 2 weeks before elective surgery. Things like ginkgo, garlic, fish oil, and many other supplements can increase blood loss and decrease clotting.  Sorry you had to have 2 surgeries in only 4 years . That is a lot to go through!

Shelly Finn  Thanks to all that replied. I just didn't like being lied to. It was evident there were several hours that my family wasn't being informed.

Yumiko Ishida  What is the clinic nurse’s recommendation? I had low BP, high HR, and anemic when the hospital sent me home. Meds that lower HR also lower BP, so unfortunately you have to pick your battle. HR 100 is uncomfortable but safe. Make sure you are well hydrated to boost your BP. Hope you feel better soon. All of these take a long time to normalize. I was still severely anemic 2 months post surgery, and at 3 months my resting HR is still around 90.

Shelly Finn  Thank you for answering. I had a blood transfusion with last surgery. No one told me I would go home anemic this time. I was told a second valve replacement would be harder on me.
Thanks again for sharing your experience.

Patricia Miller  I am sorry you are having a rough time.  Mention to the cardiology PA that you are concerned about your Hgb.  He/she could order a CBC to make sure you're trending up.  Hang in there.  Each week will get a little better.

Susan Lynn  Shelly - I'm sorry you're going through this. Please tell us more. There are plenty of excellent surgeons - you'll find one. Did this surgeon do your first surgery?

Pamela Gregory  I agree with Richard. I'm absolutely certain there are many wonderful surgeons who can do the successful surgery you need.

Valerie Allen  Shelly, it would be good for you to check the SurgeonFinder on the menu under the horizontal lines, top right. 

Greg Lewis  I am curious to know why he can't do it, too. I have heard of surgeons refusing to perform surgery on patients for various reasons. Is it a physical problem with your heart? Or another reason? 🤔 

J Alexander Lassally  Cardiac surgeons can be arrogant, special creatures, so you need to be a consumer and talk to several and explore all options.  Perhaps the avenue he/she most frequently uses is not appropriate for your case. Some docs only do TAVR, or Mitra Clip, so they might not be comfortable with open heart surgery.  Or vice versa. Make sure your cardiologist is giving basic guidance and referrals, too.  

Shelly Finn  The reason he couldn't do the surgery is that he didn't like that I hung the phone on his nurse. She was giving a third reschedule date. Which was three more weeks away. I said fine, put me down and hung up. I did find another surgeon though this website, but the surgeon was fine. But, the hospital was horrendous. 

Shelly Finn  My cardiologist left his practice during thus difficult time. I had talked to his Physicians assistant about this specific surgeon. She called the surgeons PA. That is the other reason I was told he didn't want to work with me.

Shelly Finn  I am just getting back to this comment area. I thought I would be notified by an email alert. Like new results on my chart.

Shelly Finn  The surgeon that refused me said I could see his coworker chief of staff. My husband and I waited for two weeks. We had a series of snow storms. The chief of staff told me I needed minimally invasive surgery and referred me to a hospital 130 miles away. I told him that I had an appointment 75 miles away ( Milwaukee) in two weeks and left the room. My husband stayed in the room to listen to his plan. I knew we were being dumped from UW Hospital. This is where I had my first surgery 3.5 years ago. It appeared that most of the surgical staff had left