Mitral Regurgitation, Joined January 7, 2017
Mitral Regurgitation
Joined January 7, 2017
Lynn Loudermilk
Aortic Stenosis
March 9, 2021
Kenneth Ellis
Aortic Stenosis
March 10, 2021
Riaan Venter
Mitral Regurgitation
March 11, 2021
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Dr. Castro has performed over 5,000 cardiac procedures and more than 3,000 operations involved heart valve therapies.
I'm based in the UK and am 45 with 2 young kids, 5 and 3, and prior to the op all I could think about was not seeing them again. It helped to think about the mortality rate of the op which is actually similar to any routine op. It also helps knowing you have an experienced surgeon.
I found I was much more resilient than I expected and was able to put up with things I didn't think I could cope with before the op. The nurse gave me a sleeping pill the night before which helped me get some sleep.
For the op itself and the recovery, the pain wasn't as bad as expected (my kidney stone was a lot worse). The breathing tube was something I was anxious about but I was fine with it. The worst thing was the dryness of mouth and that first drink of water after it was finally out was heaven. And ice lollies (popsicles in US?) were amazing. I didn't like the drain tubes coming out but as it only lasts a few seconds you can handle it.
It was tough trying to get out of bed the first few days with not being able to use your arms much but once you've mastered the technique it gets easier. You have to cough a lot to remove the fluid from your lungs which is quite painful but again you get used to it. The worse thing was sneezing. I only sneezed 3 times during the first couple of months and I can still remember each and every one.
I was discharged with a huge bag of meds which should keep me in employment for the next few years (I'm in pharmaceuticals) and found that my recovery was much quicker at home. However I was very anxious with every new symptom I had and phoned the hospital cardiac helpline a lot who were quite helpful and the GP (general doctor) was always amenable to seeing me at short notice. However none of them obviously had the knowledge of the surgeon. Unfortunately though he was a very busy man and was difficult to get hold of and pretty short with me when I finally did.
Some good advice I was given was to measure your improvement over weeks rather than days. Some days and weeks I did feel worse but then I had a spurt where I felt a lot better. Try not to measure your improvement against people on the site too. I felt because I was only 44 I should have been quickly back onto the exercise and tried to match up with some people's reports of what they'd done but I couldn't. Everyone is different and has their own set of circumstances which will determine their own rate of recovery.
I went back to work after 10 weeks and though I felt a little groggy at first, I soon got back into the swing of things. Exercise wise I started cardiac rehab (which I would definitely recommend going to) and after that, started doing a planned couch to 5k (3 miles) running training program. I eventually ran a 5k race 10 months after my op which I was very proud of. OK, I was second to last out of about 150 but I did it! I find it harder to build up fitness now and easier to lose it but my surgeon did say that it would take 2-3 years for my heart to remodel itself and I don't think beta blockers help your ability to exercise either. I do play badminton every week and regularly get my pulse up to 170-180 which to be honest I'm still a little anxious about but I'm sure this anxiety will diminish in time. I think also you can check your pulse / BP a bit too much.
I suffer from a dizzy spells quite often (some severe) and get a lot more migraines than I used to. I find it much easier to trigger them with caffeine. bright lights and exercise nowadays. Overall though I'm just very thankful to have had this opportunity again and am leading much the same life activity wise as I was before I got ill. I find myself thinking about being a heart valve patient a lot less over time.
Again, apologies for this being so long, but I wanted to write something that might help people waiting for their surgery as these stories helped me while I was waiting for mine. I see a lot of new names on the website and less of the old familiar ones which I take to be a good sign as the people who have had their ops and are now back to living their lives thanks to the work of these remarkable surgeons and medical staff. Good luck to everyone about to have surgery. You can do this!
And I do relate to your sentence "I find myself thinking about being a heart valve patient a lot less over time..."
But it takes a year at least... Take care.
So nice that you took the time to give a good update on your progress.