divya gangadharan - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

4 hours ago

Hello everyone,
I am one week past my mitral valve replacement with bovine valve. I am 40 years old and had robotic surgery. I am recovering at home and ...Read more

Hello everyone,
I am one week past my mitral valve replacement with bovine valve. I am 40 years old and had robotic surgery. I am recovering at home and getting better by the day. I have the following questions from this lovely community with some of the surgery complications and after effects that I am dealing with:

1) My voice is not coming out properly due to the intubation and is mostly squeaky and strained when it comes out. I was intubated for around 24 hrs which is attributed as the cause of my voice issue. I have been setup with speech therapy. Anybody deal with this and have any tips for getting better?

2) I also havebeen diagnosed with dysphagia ( trouble with thin liquids like water getting into the wrong tube in the throat) also attributed to the the same prolonged intubation for surgery. So I am on a thickened liquid restriction till that is resolved. Anybody have any experiences or pointers in this regard?

3) My resting heart rate prior to surgery was in the 70s. My heart rate now is in the 100s. But I am not in Afib or any discomfort from the heart. I can do decent walks now. I am little winded after a flight of stairs ( I was asymptomatic prior to surgery but with an enlarged left atrium and mitral regurgitation and stenosis from an apparent rheumatic fever episode in my childhood). Is the higher heart rate and SOB from stairs fairly usual after mitral valve replacement surgery?

Thanks for reading through my long post. Looking forward to your helpful insights!

J Alexander Lassally Hi from west coast. I just wrote earlier tonight to another mitral patient that the big gift we can urge new wariors is that resting HRs run super high post surgery regardless of any other factor. Make sure you are on a beta blocker as 100 is high. But yes, it will come down. I was in the 90s and took the extended release metoprolol for about 2.3 to 3 months - and tapered back. It helps.

Many mitral patients express shortness of breath after surgery too. It is counterintuitive, but does improve.

As for the throat - seems pretty common to have weak voice. Many patients have shared this. It took me a long time to have power in my voice...That is a super long intubation. How long was your actual surgery? It should improve.

No specific insight in the swallowing topic... Best of luck !!

divya gangadharan Thanks for sharing all those insights and experiences, Alexander.

My surgery was 6-7 hrs long, ... Read more

divya gangadharan Thanks for sharing all those insights and experiences, Alexander.

My surgery was 6-7 hrs long, but they kept me intubated for long since I was bleeding a little more than normal from my chest tubes.

I am already on a low dose metoprolol for an unconnected spontaneous coronary artery dissection 2 years prior. I usually run a low BP and it has been even lower post surgery, so upping Metoprolol might pose some concern with fatigue, but I will make sure to check with my cardiologist. Thanks for the suggestion!
Thank you for the wishes!

Rita Savelis Hi. Sorry that you have to go through this. It is definitely normal to have a fast heart rate after h ... Read more

Rita Savelis Hi. Sorry that you have to go through this. It is definitely normal to have a fast heart rate after heart valve surgery. Sometimes doctors will prescribe betablockers for a few weeks/months which slow your heart down and give it a rest. Your heart, and you, have been through a lot. So many parts of your body are affected. Things will eventually settle. I did not have more energy after surgery and was short of breath for awhile. Take care.