Bill's Journal

Hi Everyone! I hope this message finds you all well. I had mitral valve repair via OHS 6.5 months ago. I’ve felt good overall since then. In the last few days I feel like I can detect some heart palpitations, not sure if it is in my head or not. Was wondering if any of you have experience this and what you did about it. Is it worth scheduling an appointment with the cardiologist or just a phone call to his assistant? Do I need another echo? It seems weird to me to have to get a very expensive echo every time I may have a concern, but then again I want to be cautious. Thanks!

I have been taking 12.5 mg in the morning and 12.5mg at night of Metoprolol since my MVR surgery in November. I went for a 4 month post op echo on March 12th and my cardiologist said everything looked good. I asked him about my medicine (just aspirin and metoprolol) and he said if I don’t have high blood pressure, I can wean off metoprolol. He said to start taking it just once a day, then once every other day, etc until I’m not taking it anymore. My question is, is it normal for your resting heart rate to go up a little bit during this process? Mine finally got down to the mid to high 70s after about 3 months post surgery, but the last 5 days or so it has creeped up to 81, 82, 83, 84. Just wondering if this is a cause for concern. My blood pressure is fine and I don’t have any symptoms. I’ll probably call my cardiologist tomorrow, but also wanted to know if anyone had any experiences similar to this. Thanks!

Hi Everyone. I was just curious if anyone knows the general/approximate going rate for an echocardiogram. I have a 4 month post echocardiogram scheduled for March 12th (I had MVR on Nov 13) and I called my insurance company to get an estimate on the cost. I have a high deductible plan ($4,500), and they said the amount I would owe would be $1,968.14 approximately, which is the negotiated rate through insurance. This sounds extremely high to me. I wonder if my provider will have a better price for paying cash, but then I would imagine that can't go towards my deductible. Just curious what others experiences are. For someone that will need echos every year from now on, I am trying to keep the expenses as low as possible. Thank you in advance.

I had MVR about 12 weeks ago. I just got done exercising moderately/sometimes vigorously for about 20 minutes on the elliptical machine. I then started seeing flashing light type things in my eyes and it was hard to see what I was focusing on. I checked my BP and it seemed kind of low at around 100/60. Has anyone else had this before? It is starting to go away slowly as I rest from the workout. I am on metoprolol 12.5mg in the morning and 12.5 mg at night and also one 81mg aspirin per day. This has happened a handful of times since my surgery. Thanks in advance to anyone that can share anything.

Hi Everyone. Before my mitral valve repair surgery, I was playing pick up basketball about 2-3 times a week. It has been 11 weeks since my surgery and I’ve been wanting to get back on the court, but part of me is nervous / scared. Just wanted to hear of anyone else’s experiences with returning to a sport after MVR. I had a full sternotomy, so I guess I’m worried about getting bumped into my chest. Also I haven’t ran like that in so long...

Hi Everyone, I had mitral valve repair surgery on November 13th, 2017, which I was told was a success by the surgeon/doctors afterwards as I recovered in the hospital. I had severe mitral valve prolapse and severe regurgitation prior to the surgery. I spent 4 days in the hospital and was then released home. I am about 7.5 weeks post surgery now and feel pretty good for the most part, although I have lost about 23 pounds which is becoming hard to gain any of it back. I went back to my surgeon's office for a follow up appointment one month later on December 13th, which included a chest x-ray and an echocardiogram. I just now got the results of the echocardiogram today over the phone (January 4th, 2018). I believe it took so long to get the results because of the holidays, but I was hoping this delay/silence really meant everything was ok and nothing was urgent. I just got a call from the Nurse Practitioner at the Surgeon's office to give me the results, she said there is mild regurgitation in the mitral valve and that the heart pumping capacity of the heart is perfect. I was a little sad to hear there was mild regurgitation, I was hoping for none at all (or at least trace). I was never really told in the hospital what if any regurgitation I still had left before I left the hospital. Anyways, she said this is normal and that it is hard to 100% fix someone's mitral valve to where there is no regurgitation at all. She said the scale is 1) Trace, 2) Mild, 3) Moderate, 4) Severe. I had severe before my surgery so I guess mild sounds good. She said the post surgery echo (about 3 days after surgery) and the 1 month post op echo were the same, no differences in the regurgitation. I may be getting another echo through my regular cardiologist at the end of February, but she said this is probably unnecessary and I can wait a year, but I might just do it for peace of mind. She said that when they compare my echo a year from now with the original one, and if there is no progression, then there is a very low chance I will ever need anything done again. I am only 34 years old though. Also, for more information, I believe I had a Barlow's type valve repair. Anyways, I was just curious if anyone else had any experience with a mitral valve repair but still had some mild regurgitation. I guess going from severe to mild is a great improvement and I should be happy with that. I just seem to worry about the future too much and it messes with my mind. Thank you for reading. I look forward to anyone else's experiences or thoughts. -Bill