Mark's Journal

Deb Lewis   So great to hear! I am having minimally invasive mv repair next week and I will hold on to your words that getting back to normal has been a breeze

Helen Daw  Had a surgery a little over 3 weeks and I feel great. I, too, had built up the whole thing in my mind and my was I wrong. Good to hear that you are doing well.

Maria Gapinski  Hi Mark, Mt. Sinai hospital has a division that has expertise in mitral valve re-do surgeries. They may be able to provide you with additional information and / or options. I understand that they are focused on the durability of repairs. Maria

Michael Meyer  Mark:
Very high durability through the first 20 years, but it of course depends on you physiology and the required repair. You can see some of the available data from Carpentier the father of mitral valve repair and my surgeon Dr. Gillinov also has work in the area. Repair is the answer vs. replacement if possible. That said your surgeon will cover valve replacement and even though I had minimally invasive robotic surgery, the surgical team was prepared to perform a upper sternotomy with a valve replacement if required.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4598471/

Maria Gapinski  Hi Mark, my husband had minimally invasive MV repair, and the MV started leaking again at moderate / severe level after 9 months. He had had his surgery done at a center of excellence by an expert surgeon. Sometimes things just don't hold. Mt Sinai's perspective is interesting because they fix what failed in patients' first MV surgeries. In theory, they may be able to better "do the surgery right the first time" since they have seen what goes wrong, what causes the re-leaks and they are able to fix them. There is some speculation that minimally invasive MV surgery has less durability, possibly because the surgeon has less access than with going through the sternum. My husband will likely need a re-do surgery in the future, so the MV-repair-durability issue has been a very personal one for us. Maria

Anna Jones  You sound very positive when speaking about this appointment. I'm glad this appointment went well. Let us know if you choose to move up your surgery date.

Michael Meyer  Mark: Read your story and I had minimally invasive mitral valve repair via robot with Dr. Gillinov at Cleveland Clinic,in 2014 with great outcome. Dr. Bolling is a really good choice here in the Midwest. I am from St. Louis and decided to go to the clinic. I think you would be really happ with the procedure and recovery. Very smart to get a second opinion.

Barbara Wood  My surgery was originally scheduled for last March, then rescheduled for May. I was upset at the longer wait but was glad it was done in Spring. you'll want to get outside & walk several times a day - walking & resting, then walking/ resting again repeated about 4 times/day will become your new job. Cold & snow would have made that much harder. Best wishes on your surgery!

Phyllis Petersen  Tough call! Once I knew I needed surgery, I was anxious to get it done. I had minimally-invasive robotic MVr with Dr. Gillinov 15 months ago and am feeling great.

Adam Brown  The decision was harder than I thought it’d be but I went with robotic. Today was my 4 week anniversary and I’d say I’m 90% - still some burning nervy sensations. No regrets though - I plan to get back in the gym this Monday and start to get back in shape.

Anna Jones  Hi Mark,

Keep us posted. I have my heart cath on 1/15/18 when I will learn whether or not I am ready for surgery.

Mark Dimatteo  Thanks Anna, had my cath 12/28/17 , they said nothing major 10% block, 10%, 30% and 30% in a couple areas. So now to choose when and who for mitral valve repair ugh!