Jason's Guestbook

That's great, Guy. Glad to hear. I'm feeling pretty good these days and also feeling fortunate they can fix this so well. Medicine is crazy. How's your resting heart rate now? My heart rate used to by like 69-73 when I woke up, but I'm never lower than like 96-104 now (7 weeks out). They say it will go down but sheesh my heart is fast now!

I rented my recliners (two of them!) from a local place called McCann Medical. We live in Portland OR, but I'm sure most cities have something like it. I don't think we really actually needed two of them. I do recommend getting one for sleeping at least for a couple of weeks. Ours were $150 a month each for the rental. They are upholstered in vinyl, of course, since they need to be very washable between clients. I had my surgery at Providence St. Vincents. I asked around a bunch until I got multiple referrals to the same guy, Dr. Jeff Swanson. He has a profile on this site and answers some questions in an interview with Adam about how to pick a surgeon. As near as we can tell, he was an excellent choice. He has developed an expertise in mitral valves and was able to give me a near guarantee (no such thing as a real guarantee) of a repair. He also has excellent bedside manner and really instills confidence. I trust him completely. One thing he said in that interview that is really important is this: You should be allowed to ask your surgeon very direct questions about your odds of a repair and their own clinical outcomes. In my opinion, if a surgeon seems uncomfortable answering questions like that, run don't walk to another provider. I was told after surgery by Dr. Swanson and my also excellent anesthesiologist that I got an "excellent repair." Fingers crossed for durability and no recurrence of the regurgitation, at least until a bullet, cancer, or car wreck takes my life, --anything but heart failure :) . The full sternotomy is not really that bad. Yes it hurts. Yes the lifting restrictions are really inconvenient for awhile (try that with a 3 and 6 year old in the house), but the sternotomy is just about access -- all bone and skin and muscle. That stuff heals predictably with time. The critical part is when they start opening up your pericardium and heart tissue, so I really wanted to tradeoff all of my risks in favor of maximum surgical quality -- repair options and technique with direct eyes on my heart. However, lots of people choose minim invasive robotics and are very happy with their results. I am three weeks post-surgery and feeling--all things considered--fantastic. It's a bumpy ride, but I am optimistic now. Research the hell out of things, ask good questions, and trust.

That's great to hear. I have a bileaflet prolapse with severe regurgitation and posssibly broken chordae. I had breast cancer and radiation treatments and the right side. I also have Ehler danlos. So my surgeon wants to be safe and get a good repair. I am getting a secon opinion on May 4th, and will schedule it soon thereafter, probably end of May. I am terrified of the pain! I hear its very painful. I get very nauseated with opiod/narcotic medication. I will look into the recliner. I hadnt even thought of that. Any other suggestions that you'd have for me?