liza norman - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

2110 days ago

Hi All, Just an update. My Surgery was 16 weeks ago! yikes! it's like forever in the past! I had mitral valve repair with minimally invasive surgery ( through ...Read more

Hi All, Just an update. My Surgery was 16 weeks ago! yikes! it's like forever in the past! I had mitral valve repair with minimally invasive surgery ( through my right breast). I fell 95% recovered. There are twinges at my incision sites and my breast is still numb.. I have been in cardiac rehab for a month now, it's awesome. I can pump my legs and raise my MET score, but there is not much stretching included, just muscle strength, endurance and raising my heart beats. I am not taking ay medication, (yay,) and my resting BP is excellent!! I am trying to design ( and make) a comfortable brassier. I can't believe nobody talks about how uncomfortable it is after this the of surgery when you have large breast that pull on your incision! you have to wear a bra, but it hurts! ..sigh, I am mostly past this phase, but now all brassieres are uncomfortable for me. OK, that's it. I am hoping I have the mental strength to continue my cardiac rehab once my 36 weeks are over and I am on my own. I think I will.. I'll let you know!.

Susan Lynn Liza - Necessity is the mother of invention! You have to think a bit creatively when it comes to de ... Read more

Susan Lynn Liza - Necessity is the mother of invention! You have to think a bit creatively when it comes to designing some support. Almost anything wrapped and tied will probably give you relief. Just an fyi - there is sensitivity, pins/ needles, and numbness after the mini-t for quite awhile. I felt pretty good with a little regular Tylenol, as needed. And - by the way, I loved cardiac rehab and still go to the extended class twice a week. I adore the people and enjoy the workout! You've got this - the worst is far behind you! All good things ahead ! ❤

liza normanposted an update

2110 days ago

Hi All, Just an update. My Surgery was 16 weeks ago! yikes! it's like forever in the past! I had mitral valve repair with minimally invasive surgery ( through ...Read more

liza normanposted an update

2218 days ago

Lisette Heckathorn, Frank Giovanniello , Shannon Gray reacted to this

Hi! I just had mitral valve repair surgery, minimally invasive with Dr Tobias Deuse at UCSF. I was surprised at how fast the surgery was, and they sent me ...Read more

Hi! I just had mitral valve repair surgery, minimally invasive with Dr Tobias Deuse at UCSF. I was surprised at how fast the surgery was, and they sent me home after only 3 nights in the hospital! Now I am hoping you all have ideas of how to sleep! I have a zero gravity chair, which is helpful, and I tried l sleeping flat which felt like I had 200 lb weight and couldn't breathe. Does a wedge pillow help? Plus the air quality in northern CA is so bad right now, I don't want to walk outside so i've been walking around the house instead. Everything hurts. I'm so glad to be home though! If anyone in the bay area needs this surgery I highly recommend my surgeon and his team!

Adam Collins In my experience, trying to lie flat was awful, just like you say. I had a nice big power recliner t ... Read more

Adam Collins In my experience, trying to lie flat was awful, just like you say. I had a nice big power recliner to sleep in, though, and setting it at various levels of incline helped me to get as comfortable as I could be. So yeah, I think a wedge pillow would definitely be worth a try.

Frank Giovanniello I'm still in the recliner and it's about 10 weeks. Sternum still crackling , Dr. hoping it to heal on ... Read more

Frank Giovanniello I'm still in the recliner and it's about 10 weeks. Sternum still crackling , Dr. hoping it to heal on it's own. Three nights, WOW, that was fast.

Marie Myers I slept in the recliner for a month. After that time, I moved between couch and bed, using pillows an ... Read more

Marie Myers I slept in the recliner for a month. After that time, I moved between couch and bed, using pillows and a wedge pillow to stay a little upright. Sleep did not come easily for weeks after surgery for me.

Barbara Wood I used a 9" memory foam wedge with a few extra pillows - worked for me, but I found sleeping on my ba ... Read more

Barbara Wood I used a 9" memory foam wedge with a few extra pillows - worked for me, but I found sleeping on my back to be mighty hard!

Meredith Bray I would have LOVED a zero-g chair! Try using that chair and get some pillows to stuff under your arms ... Read more

Meredith Bray I would have LOVED a zero-g chair! Try using that chair and get some pillows to stuff under your arms to support their weight, and one of those nifty U-shaped travel pillows to support your head. You should be able to get a few hours of good rest like that!

Susan Lynn You're going to feel like Goldilocks for awhile - so, my recommendation is to have options. I had a ... Read more

Susan Lynn You're going to feel like Goldilocks for awhile - so, my recommendation is to have options. I had a recliner, foam wedge, and tons of pillows. I used whatever felt good on any particular day, but ultimately found that sleeping in my own bed (surrounded by pillows) was just right. Speedy recovery!

liza norman Thank you all for your responses! I am doing better. I am still quite sore, but not taking pain meds ... Read more

liza norman Thank you all for your responses! I am doing better. I am still quite sore, but not taking pain meds, I hate the way they make me feel and they don't really do much. They only sent me home from the hospital with acetaminophen anyway. The pain is in my breast where they ran all the tubes ( I assume). I am sleeping in the zero gravity chair with extra padding and doing fine. My kitty is so happy she sleeps in my lap every night since I've been home!

liza normanposted a journal

2331 days ago

Hi group, I am scheduling mitral valve repair surgery for October. I have seen two surgeons and really liked one of them. he is a pioneer of minimally invasive ...Read more

Hi group, I am scheduling mitral valve repair surgery for October. I have seen two surgeons and really liked one of them. he is a pioneer of minimally invasive valve repair surgery, meaning he does not do the full sternotomy unless there are other complications, ( like bypass needed or something). HOWEVER, the only information I can find on him is the promotional blurb on the hospital website. Why is he not in the surgeon finder here? or on consumer checkbook? I am hoping this community has some information about hm. Dr Tobias Deuse at UCSF. Thanks so much, Liza

Susan Lynn Liza - Welcome! I'm a fellow minimally invasive mitral valve repair patient - had mine done just out ... Read more

Susan Lynn Liza - Welcome! I'm a fellow minimally invasive mitral valve repair patient - had mine done just outside of Philadelphia in December 2017. It was a virtually painless procedure, minimal scar, and I was out of the hospital in 3 days. No driving restrictions because there's no sternum cut, either!
I would ask your surgeon for his annual volume of this procedure, percentage of successful repairs, average hospital stay, and most common complications. You're looking for a surgeon who does at least a couple a week versus some surgeons who may only perform a handful every year. I suspect if he is a pioneer in the mini-thoractomy that he has done many of them with great success. But, don't take my word for it - ask him. Any qualified surgeon is happy to answer your questions. Wishing you all the best!

Judy S Hi Liza,
I started my process with UCSF and met three surgeons there, including Dr. Deuse. I didn� ... Read more

Judy S Hi Liza,
I started my process with UCSF and met three surgeons there, including Dr. Deuse. I didn’t feel a good connection with any of them. I then talked to two other surgeons elsewhere and found the one that gave me great confidence. I had a minimally invasive aortic valve replacement with Dr. Luis Castro—the top-ranked surgeon on this site. I would check him out. I am 11 months post op with no complications, and his care was exemplary. He is the head of cardiac surgery at Sequoia in Redwood City and specializes in minimally invasive valve replacements.

Jeff Baker Hi Liza,
I too met with two surgeons. The first surgeon was an accomplished surgeon but I wanted ... Read more

Jeff Baker Hi Liza,
I too met with two surgeons. The first surgeon was an accomplished surgeon but I wanted one that did a lot of what I needed. I found Dr. Kevin Accola in my backyard (Orlando FL). He averages 100 Mitral Valve Repair surgeries annually. I'm having a smaller sternotomy.

Marie Myers It is possible the surgeons and hospitals on this site might pay to advertise here. My doc and hosp ... Read more

Marie Myers It is possible the surgeons and hospitals on this site might pay to advertise here. My doc and hospital were not listed here either. There are lots of good “ unknown” docs out there. You need to find out how many of your procedure the doctor does, and what kind of results he gets. Track record is very important.

liza norman thank you guys! sorry, I just saw all these answers! well, I've had my surgery, and yes my surgeon do ... Read more

liza norman thank you guys! sorry, I just saw all these answers! well, I've had my surgery, and yes my surgeon does this surgery as his main gig.... But SusanLynn! OMG, no pain? I am in a lot of pain, mostly from the weight on my right breast. I can not wear a bra as the incision is still fresh, and they are heavy and pull where all the tubes were run through me. Congratulations that you had no pain. I am having difficulty lying down, but have a zero gravity chair which I have been using for sleep. When I lie flat it feels like I can't breathe. I assume this will get better as I heal. anyway, I am so glad this is behind me, and am amazed art my doctor , the surgery took less than 4 hours ad I was in the hospital 3 nights! wahoo!