Kim's Profile

My heart valve journey was fast--from an echocardiogram on August 5th to surgery on September 22nd. It didn't need to be done THAT fast, but why wait, once you know what the problem is, and that they can fix it? It started with my primary care doctor detecting a new heart murmur, a cardiologist's diagnosis of severe mitral valve regurgitation, and mitral valve repair surgery. I researched the heck out of the problem, the solutions, the outcomes, and this website was very helpful. Thank you!! I was a distance runner, had low BP and no heart problem symptoms. What do you mean, I need open heart surgery?? They had to be kidding me, until I saw the echocardiograms--that prolapsed valve was REALLY flailing. I can worse-case absolutely anything. But, I decided I needed to go into surgery with the most positive attitude and goals I could set out to get out of the hospital fast. Not to say it wasn't scary seeing my name on the door and realizing, "Oh, crap. This is going to happen." I set goals before ever getting to the hospital--one night in ICU (check), 3-4 in regular room (3 preferred, but I humored them for 4). I was determined to be up walking as soon as they wanted me to. Check. I took a couple of days totally easy, but now I'm on the stationary bike or walking in the park every day--trying to make sure and NOT overdo it. SO--lesson learned on positive attitude!! The incision hurts and itches, I can't lie. But, I'm off pain meds. Looking forward to seeing the continued progress over the next weeks, am curious about what folks did for rehab/recovery and scar minimization. Dr. Lawrie told me that I would feel better than I did before surgery (which was fine--I was totally asymptomatic), and I just didn't realize how bad I felt then. Definitely looking forward to that! Thank you all for your stories and your suggestions; for the informative videos!