Judy's Guestbook

Judy, My 2nd open heart surgery was on Jan. 30, 2017. My severe tricuspid regurgitation caused a lot of problems with my other organs. I have not fully recovered yet, but God is good. Just keep on holding on to Jesus. My prayers are with you.

Hi Judy I had my surgery at CC on 12/5/16. Scared out of my mind. Knew it was going to happen for 13 years and it finally did. Had the same surgeon as you have. Everything went well. Started back to work last Tuesday. You have a pretty good idea what is going to happen already but doesn't really help the fear factor. Your mind is a wonderful thing but it can get the best of us at times. Think positive and pray. Take care.

Hi Judy. I have to tell you that I cringed when I read that your valve failed and now you need a redo. My worst fear! I had an AVR in November 2016. Most definitely the hardest thing i have ever been through. The thought of a redo is beyond terrifying. Do they know why your valve failed? I will be thinking about you and praying for you.

Hi Judy, Thanks for your note. I too am sorry to hear that your valve failed after only three years. I was told when I got my first one to count on seven years and ended up getting 15 out of it. Actually, it was more likely 14 as I was symptomatic for the last year and the surgeon told me that my valve was "shredded" when he replaced it. One never knows how long a man made valve will last and can only cross one's fingers. To answer your questions, I am feeling well at this point in my recovery. The sternum is not bothering me at all at seven weeks. At most my chest feels like it is bruised (which it probably actually is), but there is no pain, I don't worry about coughing or sneezing any more. I have been shoveling show (carefully) since week three. The incision itself is causing me some issues. It is sore and I have spots along the scar that are not healing all that well and are leaving blood spots on my t-shirt sometimes. It could be that the sutures are not dissolving. I am not all that worried about it and am being patient. I just don't recall this happening the first time. As for the sternotomy, the full median sternotomy was not as big of a deal as I thought it would be. For me at least, it turns out that I was worried for nothing. I have one rib that is unhappy, but I suppose the retractor will do that. I noticed with interest the other day that the part of my sternotomy that tends to be sore is the upper part where the first one was. I suspect that makes sense given that that part of the bone was already opened once. I suppose it is no wonder that it is a bit sore. I was generally impressed with the Cleveland Clinic. The organization is really impressive. All of the various desks make it easy to navigate. I thought the majority of the employees and care givers were really friendly. The nursing staff was terrific at every level. I did not really care for the step down unit for some reason. I just was more comfortable in the Cardiac ICU. Everyone thought that was weird, but I thought the bed was 1000x more comfortable there. I was only in the hospital for 3.5 days post op. My surgery was on the 12/27 so I don't really count that day. I was released on 12/31. I went into A-fib on the second night on the step down and was worried that I might have to stay longer, but told them "nobody is served by me being here anymore. I want to go home". And out I went. I just made sure to walk the halls a lot, to show them I was ready. . Again the nursing staff was great. On both the ICU and the step down unit. One thing that I noticed and quasi complained about was that I don't recall ever seeing a doctor at my bedside in the step down unit. They seem to rely on the nurse practitioners at the bedside. They were great, but I never the same one twice. The nurses were consistent and I had a good relationship with them. It was never clear to me however (and I constantly asked), who was responsible for/making decisions for my care. I am sure someone was, but again I don't know who. Everything worked out fine, but still don't know who was giving the orders. I actually turned it down when the nurses tried to give me a statin. I asked "who ordered that and why?". In terms of pain etc. I never took anything other than Tylenol after I left the ICU. I wanted to clear my head which was a bit fuzzy after the PCA. The drive home was about 6 hours and was fine. I was surprised that bumps in the road (up and down motion) did not bother me at all. The forward and backward motion when the car would accelerate from a stop light for example was the more uncomfortable motion for me. Just remind the person driving to accelerate slowly forward. All in all, things are going well. I want to start to stretch and "open up" my shoulders and collarbones. I am still holding myself somewhat constricted and rolled into a protective posture. It is time for me to unfurl my self again. I wish you all the luck and success in the world with your upcoming surgery. You are in good hands at Cleveland and you will be in my thoughts and prayers. If you have any more questions or just wish to chat, please reach out. And, please let me know how you are post -surgery. We can compare notes. Blessings, Joseph

HI Judy, I saw only today that you had asked me a question in a previous thread for another patient. I am only seeing it today. Since I was also having and AVR redo you asked me how I would compare the two. I had my second AVR done at the Cleveland Clinic on December 27. My first AVR was done at Sequoia Hospital in California in 2001. Since I now live only five hours east of Cleveland in New York State, I opted to go to Cleveland Clinic rather than travel back out to California. I have to say that despite being 15 years older now than the first time that the two experiences were comparable. I had a mini-upper sternotomy the first time and was not able to convince my CC surgeon that this was the way to go. He argued that he could "better protect the heart muscle having the access provided by the full median sternotomy". I even reopened the discussion with him on the table before we got started. My concern was that having the entire sternum bisected would result in more pain and less stability at the bottom. It seems logical and I had read that full median sternotomy was more painful. I will admit however, that despite having a scar that is considerably longer, and a chest x-ray that is much more interesting to view (11 wire loops instead of two), I did/do not find the full median sternotomy as bad as I thought it would be. It is really not that bad at all. That surprises me actually. My ribs on the bottom left are a bit sore, but that is manageable. Other than that, I had a stentless porcine valve the first time and "graduated" to a stented bovine valve this time. Again, no real difference except for that fact that the new valve I can see on the chest x-ray just kind of floating there in the middle of the image. I no longer have to feel guilty when I eat pork chops, but now am apprehensive about eating beef. Something tells me I will get over that fast enough. :-) So as odd as it sounds, I think that the entire experience has been a positive one. On the one year anniversary of the first AVR I was able to "scrub in" with my surgeon and watched three surgeries that day. I have wished I had become a surgeon from that very day. Unfortunately, that is a decision one needs to make earlier in life. I mention that to say that I like being around cardiac surgery even if I am the patient. I "enjoyed" being around it as strange as that sounds. Not to say, I wanted surgery, but at the same time I found it all very interesting. I also think it helps that we are both "redo" patients. We know what to expect and for that reason have perhaps less apprehension and feat that those patients going through it for the first time. I know that was the case for me. I hope it is for you. I was calm in the pre-op area and I hope that other patients waiting to go up noticed that. Perhaps in some way they saw that "that guy doesn't seem nervous" and felt less fear. I don't know. I hope so. That would be the contribution that we "redo" patients can make. I hope your second surgery goes well as I am sure it will. Best wishes, Joseph

Judy, so sorry you are having to have a second surgery...my AVR was Oct. 19th and mine also is a tissue valve (bovine). How did you find out yours was leaking? I'm just curious to know if there are symptoms I should be on look out for. Are you going with another tissue or mechanical valve? Thank you for your help! I am scared mine is going to fail for some reason...

I have had two valve replacements. First was in Syracuse, NY the second was at CC with Eric Roselli. I lived ! No real complications with the surgery but did end up with a pacemaker. Small price to pay. Two years later and I am doing very well. Have confidence in your choices, plan well for aftercare and let everyone do their part. Susan

Judy - just read about your situation. Sorry to hear you're having a second surgery, however glad to hear you're going to Cleveland Clinic. I went to Marc Gillinov there in January 2015 for mitral valve repair. My family and some friends all kept asking why I wanted to travel from Colorado to Cleveland - and it's because CC has the best surgeons and best cardiac hospital. The only thing I didn't like was the rather noisy critical care area, where I had to stay about 3 days (usually it's only a day). The nursing care, however, was exceptional. Good luck to you.

Judy - just read about your situation. Sorry to hear you're having a second surgery, however glad to hear you're going to Cleveland Clinic. I went to Marc Gillinov there in January 2015 for mitral valve repair. My family and some friends all kept asking why I wanted to travel from Colorado to Cleveland - and it's because CC has the best surgeons and best cardiac hospital. The only thing I didn't like was the rather noisy critical care area, where I had to stay about 3 days (usually it's only a day). The nursing care, however, was exceptional. Good luck to you.