Doug's Guestbook

Dan Fouratt  Tomorrow will be a great day and you will do awesome.  Recovery is far batter then the wait.  Good Luck and let us know how it went.

Doug Fults  Hi Lisa, I caught the webinar as well!  I've stumbled across bits & pieces of the info over the last month or so, but not all pulled together like this, in a single, acessible webinar.  Great presentation by Dr. Gillinov, I hope Adam adds it to the library, as I think it'll make a great resource.   I'm fine with traveling (made easier as my wife Lora is such a good planner), I figure the trickiest part will likely be the return trip - so aiming not to have a stopover, and to ask for a wheelchair in the airports at each end.  Will post back about experiences.

Lisa Silverman  Thank you! 🙏🏼 checked my local airport and there are no direct flights for me so that gives me the vapors. I agree the return trip seems scary HOWEVER it sure seems folks do it all the time and it’s just fine.

Doug Fults  Bummer.  I'm truly not sure what to expect; reports on recovery are widely varying. Gillinov yesterday was talking about folks having had robotic surgery being free to drive after being released from the hospital... others talk about being absolutely exhausted, many weeks to months after surgery...  I just don't know what to think.  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to be running through the airport trying to catch a close connection!

Phyllis Petersen  Lisa, I had to change planes in Chicago. I had arranged a wheelchair, so they had a cart take me between planes. It really wasn't bad. 

Doug Fults  Tim, glad to hear of the smooth surgery,  that you are doing well, and are under great care!  We are lucky to have this site, and such great advice from the heart warriors out there!  I was also an early recipient of Dan's advice on getting in lots of walking pre-surgery, which was great timing as it reminded me of what I'd heard in the consult - "Yes, you can exercise - we want you to be in good shape for surgery.  Just don't overdo it; don't start training for a marathon or start a weight lifting program".  Well, I've been taking brisk walks most every day for the last two months.  It's been a nice point of focus and  I'm feeling ready.

Tim Carpenter   Yes I tried to get in at least 10000 steps a day most days I would do more and I felt like I wasn’t doing enough but wow they were astonished at how fast things happened for me I will be praying for you great outcome and quick recovery also and as always keep on ticking 

Doug Fults  My watch says I've averaged around 8000 steps a day over the last month a half - guess I'd better "step" it up!

Tim Carpenter   lol I thought mine wasn’t enough I believe it makes your legs stronger which makes it easier to get up out of bed and I got the feeling that’s what they wanted to see

Dan Fouratt  Doug, Keep on walking.  I walked around the ICU the day of Surgery, Step Down the next day, out two days later.
the Doctor looked at me and said there is simply no reason to keep you here longer. He seemed disappointed or confused. When I go home I continued to walk.  Turned on the tread mill at a blazing speed of 2.5 mph, couple with a stressful zero degree incline and put on a good movie on the TV.  Twice a day at two hours each got you to 10 miles a day. 

Doug Fults  Dan, that's quite impressive, 10 miles a day after heart surgery!  Will do what I can... just learned my daughter's coming to help out after surgery - she very much enjoys taking walks, so I am very much looking forward to that  :)

Dan Fouratt  I did cheat and do it on a treadmill and binge some really bad shows that my wife would have never watched.  It kept me going! sow and steady.

Doug Fults  Betsy, you are so sweet. Yay for no complications!   I'm feeling about as prepared as one can be between this site and the consult, which was indeed as confidence inspiring as their reputation would suggest.

Doug Fults  I'm a bit new here myself, still getting the hang of the site, but, well I'm seeing your post, so this works!  Yes, we live in a remote corner of Colorado and travel is the only option.  Fortunately I'm hearing traveling for valve surgery is a common occurrence, and it's also common to be cleared for return travel some 10-ish days after surgery, maybe even sooner, for recovery at home.  We are making sure the return flight does not have a stop-over, and will likely request a wheelchair in the airport.

Lisa Silverman  I’m sure rooting for you and for a smooth procedure and recovery. Do you know are they doing OHS or one of the other techniques?

Doug Fults  Thank you for the kind thoughts!  I'm tentatively scheduled for robotic surgery, with  Dr. Gillinov, who has extensive experience with that approach and Mitral Valve repairs - provided that I pass certain checks to verify suitability (via X-Ray /  CT Scan scheduled the day before).  I now understand there are pros & cons to all of the approaches - this site has a lot of great info & video interviews with surgeons & cardiologists which I found really informative to understand the options, which can put you in a great position even just to choose who to talk to (and there's the Surgeon Finder link here, different surgeons will have different focuses), and help you put together a list of questions to ask them.  If you're not feeling comfortable with what you're hearing, keep looking :)  One bit of common advice is to select a Hospital & Surgeon who do these surgeries regularly with a strong record of successful outcomes.  

Phyllis Petersen  Hi Doug. I had robotic mitral valve repair with Dr. Gillinov in October 2016. He's a great surgeon and the set-up at CC is fantastic. They have support for you and whoever is there with you. They are very responsive to your needs, so ask away. The worst thing they can say is no, but I didn't have any issue they couldn't resolve. The large notebook they give you is worth really going through. I also used the meditation recordings (and still do sometimes). I traveled from Tucson, AZ to CC. I was fortunate to have family only about an hour and a half away, so stayed 10 days. Do get a wheelchair for travelling home. You don't want to get tired and not have that available. If you have any questions I can answer for you, feel free to email me at fabphyllis@gmail.com. BTW, my cardiologist says I'm boring now (at least my heart is).