Philip's Journal

I am a little late starting my journal but I believe some of you might want to hear my story. About 15 years ago I experienced that day when you are told you have a heart murmur. After 15 years of watchful waiting I started to have some minor symptoms and it was time to get my mitral valve repaired. I will be 61 in March. I live in Florida, and after many months of research I decided to go to Emory University's St Joseph Hospital in Atlanta. My surgeon is Dr Douglas Murphy, Dr Murphy is a kind soft spoken surgeon who specializes in the Lateral Endoscopic Robotic Assisted approach. I studied extensively on which approach I wished to take and decided on robotic assisted. He has performed over 1000 of these surgeries. I was on my way to surgery. I had a heart cath performed at my local hospital and had the results sent to Dr Murphy. My coronary arteries were clean. I showed up in Atlanta a couple of days early to have my pre-surgery testing done. A cat scan-blood work, respiratory tests, chest x-ray etc. Day One December 17th, 2015: I showed up at the hospital at 530a and the surgery was scheduled for 730a. Since I pre-registered I was taken directly to the pre-surgery waiting area. After about 20 minutes I was called and went directly to a pre-surgery prep room and they did not waste anytime getting me ready to go. The nurse anesthesiologist and the Doctor of anesthesia put 1 IV line in me and gave me something that made me care less. I kissed the wife and it was on to the surgery suite. I had asked to see the robot before they knocked my out and they complied with my wish. That's the last thing I remember until the next morning. The surgery went well, 3.5 hours, 1 hour and 4 minutes on bypass, repaired a flail on the posterior of my valve, put three new cords in and installed a ring around the valve to support it. The bypass tubes were placed in my groin area and there were two tubes placed in my neck for a reason I am not sure of. There was also one drain tube and a urinary catheter .The surgery was done through 5 small holes which the largest of was 1 inch with the other ones much smaller. The surgeon did not move or cut through any bones, just soft tissue, The breathing tube was removed on the operating table, thank the lord. Echo showed no leaks in the valve. Day Two December 18th 2015: Woke up about 8a in the ICU. No pain at all. The ICU nurses are trained to keep a real close eye on you and I very seldom lost site of her. She was great. She removed all of the tubes with the exception of the drain and the IV. By around 1130a I was ready to go to my room. Went there and had lunch, sat in a chair, walked a few laps around the nurses station and rested most of the day. No pain at all just some soreness. Day Three December 19th, 2015: Laid around and watched football and took many walks around the entire floor. No pain just soreness. Had a chest X-ray and Echo. I had no leaks in my previously leaky valve. Day Four December 20th, 2015. Going home day. No pain some soreness. Had a final chest X-ray, drain removed, IV removed, talked to the surgeon and they wheeled me out at 1130a. Total hospital stay 3 days and 6 hours. My wife and I went to the local mall on the way back to the hotel and I was starving so I had a hamburger and we got Outback to go that evening. I was given an RX for pain which we picked up that afternoon from the local Target. Slept OK that night. Day Four: Had a 1p appointment at the surgeons office. He wanted to see me one more time to make sure all was good. He released me and we drove home to Florida. Here are my observations and suggestions: I am not a doctor, I know everybody heals differently and each surgery is different, but for the life of me I can not understand why qualified patients would not use the robotic minimally invasive approach. I had absolutely no pain to speak off, no bones to heal, small incisions, I was walking three miles one week after surgery, driving in one week and I am approaching 4 weeks out and I can do anything I want to do. I am going to celebrate my one month anniversary on the golf course. Just make sure you go to a hospital and select a surgeon that has many years experience and has done many robotic procedures. When you get home...walk, walk and walk. Laying around makes you blue. Stay ahead with your pain meds. Don't wait for it to hurt to ask for help. The wait is the worst part. I went from 4 meds to just one and I will be off that one in 30 days if all goes well. That's my story. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU GOING IN FOR MITRAL VALVE REPAIR!!!! Begin working on using the restroom. They won't let you leave until you do it.