About Me (In My Own Words)
Cardiologist is DR. Le at Gulf Coast Cardiology in Panama City, FL. We have been tracking the problem for several years but no action was required. On my last visit (3/31/2022) Dr. Le said it needed to be fixed. That came as a real surprise since I still felt the same as always. As of today I still don't have a schedule for the heart cath or T E E. I've called several times but nothing scheduled yet. I told them to just wait until after June 15th - I have some things to do!
Dr. Le said since I want robotic assist that I'll have to find my own surgeon since he didn't know any. I'm thinking I'm going to try to get Dr. Clifton Lewis in Birmingham, AL - he appears very experienced in the process. (Found him on this website of Adam's.)
Nothing moves fast in Panama City!
On July 20, 2022 I went through preop process at UAB and on 7/21/22 I went in for the DiVenci assisted surgery I had been completely prepped for surgery and was already a sleep. Dr, Lewis performed another TEE before starting surgery and decided my Mitral Regurgitation was not severe enough to justify surgery. When I woke up I was upset that it had not been done but after Dr. Lewis came in an explained why he didn't perform the surgery I was glad he made the decision he did. He scheduled me with a Structural Cardiologist to keep tract on me.
On August 9th I had a televisit with Dr. Ahmed to go over the situation. Dr. Ahmed felt that based on my recent TEE I should have the procedure for Mitral Clips. After some discussions and a couple week of study I agreed to go for this procedure. Most things I had read the MitraClips were for people who are extreme risks for surgery and I did not fit that category. I finally found a write-up where they were trying the MitraClips on people with moderate risk for surgery which I am just due to my age.
On September 27th Dr. Ahmed performed the MitraClip procedure and I spent That night in the UAB hospital. The next day I went home and there was no recover time at all. I just had to take care of the small incision in my groan for about a week.
The net of it is this; Dr. Lewis was a great surgeon who made the right decision ( I really liked Dr. Lewis) and Dr. Ahmed did a great job of putting in two MitraClips. I have felt great since but I really didn't feel bad before. I do now have more stamina than before.
I went back 30 days after the procedure and was checked out - everything looked great and Dr. Ahmed said I have not restrictions of any kind.
I can strongly recommend Dr. Lewis and Dr. Ahmed at UAB - Birmingham.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Panama City Beach
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My surgery date is:
July 21, 2022
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Regurgitation
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My surgery was:
Mitral Valve Repair
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Dr. Clifton Lewis