Patrick 's Journal

Hey folks! Its been one year since myopen heart surgery to repair my Mitral valve. I feel great! I am a 43 year old man in pretty decent shape. Heres a bit of my experience strength and hope! -Knowing I needed the surgery and then waiting was tough and long… -The 2nd night after surgery was maybe the longest night of my life but after that It was a little better everyday! -The best input I got on this web site was to STAND UP STRAIGHT and but my shoulder back. - I walked. A lot. The more I walked around the better I felt. -I did have moments of feeling very blue after the surgery. I don’t know how else to explain it but blue. Just kind of felt like I wanted to cry. It’s Ok If you feel sad or mad or happy. -It’s ok to feel stuff BUT I promised myself I would try not to feel sorry for myself and in thInk it really helped to stay positive. -I didn’t need anything more than Tylenol for pain once I was home from the hospital. This is important to me because I am a recovering addict. -Sleeping was tough for the first few weeks. I didn’t sleep all the way thought the night for a while but each night i slept a bit longer until I was back to normal. -A recliner was my most comfortable place for a while. -Sneezing just plain sucks… Try holding a pillow against your chest… -I thought my scar looked really bad and didn’t think it would ever go away. It was this big raised bump on my chest. but it did go away! I think you can hardly see it. Stay strong and Positive my Heart Brothers and Sister!

Hey folks! Checking in... I ran/walked 4.5 mile trail today! Feel good! I'm able to do more and more each week. Still have to watch what I lift and I'm sore after my trail run today but I would have been before also. I had been in Afib for the past several weeks, I went in for a cardioversion (sp?) wednesday and I'm back in a good rhythm and about 65 pulse rate. My cardiologist doesn't think it will stick but we will see.... The also did an echo which showed that my bi cuspid valve now appears to have a moderate leak that wasn't there before surgey. But they seem to think it is caused by being in Afib for the past few weeks and will return to normal soon. They didn't seem to worried about it so I'll try to hold off on worrying until they tell me a should. All and all recovery has been better then I excepted. The incision looks much better then I thought it would. Pain is less then I excepted. I do find that I'm kind of bummed out some days. Can't really explain it any better then that, just kind of unfocused and blue. Keep your heads up and stay postive people!

Five weeks post op today. Afib is getting on my nerves. Heart rate is around 90 and pretty erratic. I had minimal symptoms before having my valve repaired. Once a day I would feel it get wonky for a few seconds. Now it's wonky all the time! It doesn't hurt, just annoying.

Anyone else Experience increased sternum pain starting around week 4? My chest has felt kind of numb since the surgery and the feeling is coming back so my theory is with the return of the feeling comes the pain. make sense?

Hey folks! 4 weeks post op. Feeling good, drove a little yesterday. I got a little to cocky this morning and I'm paying for it now. My chest is sore and deep breaths hurt. A good excuse to watch the World cup! Still having some afib issues. Walking alot and working 3/4 days. Pain is very minimal except when I do something stupid. Incision looking much better than I expected. To be honest I thought mine might be worse because they had to go right over the one from when I was an infant but it looks much better now. I can sleep on my side. seems to feel good to kind "hug a pillow" while laying on my side. headaches are gone! All and all recovery has been better and faster than I excepted. BUT be aware folks if you do the stuff they tell you NOT to do it hurts! Keep your heads up and stay positive folks!

Hey folks Patrick here, came home saterday morning. Feeling good and grateful! Appetite is back, sleeping a couple hours at a time. Pain is manageable with Tylenol durning the day. I do feel a little weird, I think it's the blood pressure medication. Anyway, little better everyday. My gut says it's going to very difficult to sit still as long as they say I should. Thanks for all the support to me and my wife through this thing!

This is Patrick's wife Jessi. He had a very successful mitral valve repair on Tuesday. The surgery went very well, and we are thrilled that he can now focus on recovery! Day three post op, and he has had three walks today already! Worst part for him has been nausea, and hopefully that has subsided. Good breakfast today staying down. Everything has gone better than we could have hoped. He would update himself, but not really focusing on small screens so well. Thank you so so much for your info, prayers and support!!! So nice to be on the other side of this thing!!!!

Hey folks, I'm new here. I having mitral value repair surgery on May 14th. My wife has found a lot of great info here, thanks for supporting her. I'm looking forward to getting this over with to be honest. I most concerned about the recovery time. I run a small remodeling company that revolves around, well, me.