Bill Harrison - Heart Valve Journal

3489 days ago

Billy G, Cathleen Weed, Chris Vereb and reacted to this

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since my surgery for mitral valve repair as well as one cabg procedure to overcome a block in one artery. With both of these required, ...Read more

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since my surgery for mitral valve repair as well as one cabg procedure to overcome a block in one artery. With both of these required, I had full OHS with a not-so-mini strenotomy. (I don't know how mine compares to "normal" but it's an 8 or more inch incision.) I feel that I am doing exceptionally well. I was told, both before and after my surgery, by various staff I encountered during pre-op testing and post-op care that Dr. Trento is absoultely the top surgeon around, that he is the surgeon other doctors choose for themselves when such services are needed, and that his patients always seem to recover faster, get discharged faster, etc. I think that is the case for me, and I am very grateful he took me on. I was discharged on the 6th day after surgery, stayed at a nearby motel in Los Angeles for 2 more days, returned for a final check with Dr. Trento's physician assistant, and then she brought in Dr. Trento who I very much wanted to see as well. Eight days after surgery, my husband, who was with me every day I was an in-patient, drove me home to our house near Palm Springs. I have not had much pain but encountered difficulty sleeping due a lot to the fact that I NEVER sleep on my back, never sleep in just one position, but which is the only way I can sleep now for a while. I was issued a walker, for which I was glad those first few days. But I quickly got strong enough that, when walking around my neighborhood, I found it harder to deal with the walker and the cracks in sidewalk pavement than just walking on my own, and I wound up carrying the walker home, which was easier. So it now sits in the corner. I'm walking all the way around a very long block at least once each day with my son, as well as walking around my house easily and often. I expect to walk longer and more often as days go by. I sleep a lot, at least twice a day. My son is here from Seattle to help out, and it is a great gift to me just for him to be here with me. And he fixes stuff I would normally be messing with, which is fun to see, too. I return to my cardiologist in Rancho Mirage on Thursday. I will get the last stitches from my drainage tube entry points removed and get an update from him on prescriptions going forward. I will be asking him about the cardiac rehab program at Eisenhower Medical Center, primarily as to when to start that. Being 73 and retired, I have little stress about how fast I'm regaining my strength, although that seems to be going well in this short time, so far. I'm very appreciative of my surgeon and the Cedars Sanai staff, who are terrific, of my husband's and son's good care, and of course, of Medicare! This site and Adam's book have been central to my planning, my lower anxiety due to being well informed, and the supportive friendship that has evolved from Billy Gaines, a member of this group who also had OHS with Dr. Trento last fall. I also wanted to share that I purchased the Incision Shield that Adam included information about when he sent me his book. I have found it to be helpful, and I wear it all the time. I have not tried going without it, so I can't compare how well it prevents discomfort from clothing, sheets, etc., but I encourage anyone facing OHS to consider it. All for now . . . Bill Harrison

Emily Rowley I have read your Heart Story and Journal Posts. You have done your research well, which will help wit ... Read more

Richard Puckett I hope things go well for you this upcoming week! I am sure it will, as prepared as you are. I thin ... Read more

Cheryle Bird I've just read your Story having seen that your surgery is coming up on the 26th - same day as me :) ... Read more

Bill Harrison Thanks to all for your comments. My firt Post Surgery report was just posted today, May 9:

Bill Harrison Thanks to all for your comments. Post surgery report is below:

Billy G Hey Bill,

Dr. Trento repaired my aortic valve at Cedars-Sinai 4 months ago (November 2015). Most su ... Read more

Billy G Hey Bill,

Dr. Trento repaired my aortic valve at Cedars-Sinai 4 months ago (November 2015). Most surgeons, including one of the guys whose name frequently pops up a lot at Cleveland Clinic, told me that repair was not an option, so while I understood Dr. Trento could not promise a repair, it was awesome to come out of surgery and have my dad tell me Dr. Trento repaired my aortic valve.

I almost hesitate to say too much because while my overall experience was great, I recognize that even with the best surgeons and best teams, outcomes are not always ideal. And bad surgeons can also have great outcomes.

My very general understanding is that the chances of a mitral valve repair are better than an aortic valve repair - it's just easier to do based on the structure of the valves and whatnot. A lot of the things I found online about Dr. Trento talked about his experience with mitral valve repair, so one concern I had about Dr. Trento was that I could find very little online with him talking about aortic valve repair/surgery. After meeting him, however, I was very comfortable with him and his capabilities. In view of everything I learned, I feel if Dr. Trento could repair my aortic valve when most other surgeons told me repair was not an option, I would trust him to attempt to repair my mitral valve if I needed that done as well.

I can't say I have a lot of experience with hospitals, and I tend to be fairly laid back (e.g., I am probably an ideal patient), but I can only think of positive things about my experience at Cedars-Sinai and the staff overseeing my care. One thing that stands out that may be important to many is that I had a private room to myself the entire time I was there (4 days post-op).

When the staff asked me what surgeon performed my surgery and I replied, "Dr. Trento," they all raved about him and told me he was the best they had. They told me that his patients usually recovered faster and were released faster because he was so good at what he does. As one example, after reading about surgery for months, I was expecting the drainage tubes to remain in place for at least a couple of days. I came out of surgery at 6 PM on a Friday night, and they pulled the drainage tubes by mid-day Saturday! The staff told me that there was something about the way Dr. Trento did his work that caused less trauma.

In my case, Dr. Trento preferred a full sternotomy to ensure he could have good access to my aortic valve and clearly see everything. I wanted him to do whatever he felt was best, so I did not even push for a less invasive option. However, you will likely find that many surgeons are more likely to use less invasive options for the mitral valve, and there are some good videos with Dr. Trento talking about using less invasive techniques for mitral valve repair.

One final note is that I've talked to some other heart valve surgery patients that never saw their surgeon once after surgery! Dr. Trento did not see me the first 2 days post-op only because it was a weekend and he had to go out of town, but he stopped by every other day to check in on me and had the other operating surgeon checkin on me when he was out of town. All of the nurses and the PA even told me I could have probably gone home on the third day post-op, but Dr. Trento wanted to personally see me the next day one last time to make sure he was happy with everything. Dr. Trento also went out of his way to schedule a post-op appointment on days they normally do not have those type of appointments so I could get home to Las Vegas 2 days earlier (otherwise, I would have had to wait through the weekend).

Feel free to ask me any questions anytime. If you prefer to talk privately, you can email me at wgainesgmail.com. I'm also happy to get on a call with you as well.

Bill Harrison Thanks so much! I'll send you an email and perhaps we can talk on the phone. One question I have, in ... Read more

Billy G Bill, although we talked about all this on the phone, I just saw you replied here and figured I shoul ... Read more

Bill Harrison Thanks again, Billy. Our 1-1/2 hour plus phone conversation was very helpful, your story is certainl ... Read more

Ashley Molyneaux Hi Bill -

I'm also currently dealing with dilated cardiomyopathy. They think with how large my hear ... Read more

Bill Harrison Ashley - I forgot to mention that I had PVC's many times a day from my mid-30's until my cardiomyopat ... Read more

Ashley Molyneaux Amazing! Do you mind if I ask what you were taking? I've been taking coQ10, Vitamin D and Magnesium ... Read more

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