DANNY's Guestbook

Hi Danny. I have decided on robot assisted mitral valve repair as well. I have chosen Dr.Lucian Lozonschi at Tampa General Hospital in Tampa. I had to wait 5 weeks for my TEE and Heart Cath…done on the same day. I have now been waiting about 9 weeks for a CT which is finally next week. Tentative date for surgery is July 6th. Things don’t move fast in Tampa either. 😊 Best of Luck to you.

Hi, Danny.  I am three and a half months post robotic (Da Vinci) mitral valve repair  (severe regurgitation). I did a thorough due diligence before deciding between the MitraClip intravenous., robotic, or sternotomy open heart procedures.  Against the advice of four of my doctors to do the MitraClip, I opted for the robotic procedure, with Alfredo Trento, M.D., at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.  From my first moment in the cardiac ICU, I never took more than Tylenol for pain.  I was out of ICU overnight, and cleared to leave the hospital in five days total.  I opted to stay one more day.  I have di minimus mitral valve regurgitation i.e. basically none, and feel great.  I was walking from day two, and have been doing two to three miles a day for a couple of months now.  Once I made the decision for the robotic surgery (a very stressful four weeks of education re my alternatives), it was "full speed ahead."  Due diligence and a very positive attitude are the key to the best results, I believe.  If you do that, you will do great!  We, in this privileged group of open heart surgery patients are truly blessed that we have such fabulously dedicated doctors and advanced medicine available to us.  The rest is up to us.  God bless.  
P.S. I was 81 + years old at the time of my surgery on March 11, 2022.  Let's talk 20 years from now!

Welcome Danny. At least you know what you want and I hope you find the right surgeon to do your surgery. I also live in a town where things run pretty slow and traveled to Los Ángeles to get my surgery done by the surgeon that I found on this site and also did Adam’s surgery. My surgery was different than yours but all is well Thank God and the great surgeon Dr. Starnes who is one of the best. I wish you well and please keep us posted. God bless you

Hi Danny, I wish you the best on finding the right surgeon for you. It looks like your doing your research and will find the right fit for you. This website is a great resource and support system. If you have any questions feel feee to ask the community. Usually there is someone that has a similar story as yourself and can help answer any questions or share their experience. Good luck searching and we look forward to updates from you 🙏🏽