Dorothy's Journal

So nice to be on the other side! Turns out the repair was a success but the valve was in worse shape than they thought. Still in ICU as my own heart beat isn’t kicking in yet and still is reliant on the external pacemaker. Did any ot you have this issue?

When I first started here I had months till surgery. Then it progressed to weeks, then days and now I am down to hours. I couldn’t be as prepared as I am without all of your wise experience and wisdom. I feel prepared because of all of you who have posted your experiences and recovery. I can’t thank you enough!

In anticipation of my upcoming surgery I am trying to get the house (and myself) completely ready. Someone had mentioned that a wedge for the bed helped in allowing you to sleep propped up as laying flat is painful. Most of the wedges I saw looked too skimpy. Finally found this one on Amazon. I wanted to make sure it works and is comfortable so it already arrived and I've tested it out. It is really wonderful! Providing the link should it be helpful to anyone. It's called the Avana Kind Bed Orthopedic Support Pillow Comfort System. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JMN5GWI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Newbie to this process and still trying to wrap my head around everything. Relatively still young - in my late 50’s so I was so surprised this is happening. Even though I’ve been working out with a trainer twice a week for the past year (and feeling great), a routine echo showed that my mitral valve prolapse now has severe regurgitation. Had a TEE, found a great surgeon, scheduled a CATH and planning on surgery mid-April. The range of emotions (petrified, depressed, angry, depressed again) has left me exhausted. Thank goodness my surgeon recommended this site to me. Extremely grateful to have this community with me while I go through this.