A congenital heart defect (mitral valve leaf deformity) finally caught up with me after 60+ years. It\'s all raggedy and worn out and I\'m experiencing regurgitation ...Read more
A congenital heart defect (mitral valve leaf deformity) finally caught up with me after 60+ years. It\'s all raggedy and worn out and I\'m experiencing regurgitation and atrial fibrillation. So, that\'s one thing but then during diagnostic (ECG) testing the cardiac surgeon (more on him later) determined that my triscupid valve was also on the wane and would likely need repair/replacement in 5 years or so. So, why not repair both valves while he\'s in there?
Any ideas on that one, but I should mention that my wife and I Iive in Japan (American Ex-Pats) and the surgery will be done in a hospital very near to our home. We are totally confident in the care we will receive here. But I was just wondering if anyone else out there has had heart valve surgery performed outside the USA ... just to get a different perspective.
Thanks for letting Jenna and I join the community!
Jan 31: Jenna writing this one!
We visited the cardiac surgeon and the OR staff and found out what to expect, which was pretty much the exact same thing as in your book, Adam - thanks!
However, the Japanese medical community as a whole is much more cautious (I\'d almost say timid) than the American one. Don\'s schedule goes like this:
Feb 7,8,9 - diagnostics and testing (then home)
Feb 14 PM - hospital admission, monitoring until:
Feb 18 AM - surgery scheduled (4-5 hours)
Feb 18-21 ICU
Feb 21 -28 Regular room (more later)
Feb 28 or March 1, outta there and back home - which, BTW, is only 1-1/2 blocks away.
2/28 or 3/1 until 3/15 or so - home care
Here\'s the really amusing part - our American friends are howling that that\'s MUCH too long a time to be taking for this, and our Japanese friends are howling that it\'s way too SHORT!
This will be interesting; I\'ll keep you posted. We will have bilingual nurses from the local military medical clinic visiting us daily.