Shirley's Journal

Hello again, I had O.H Mitral Valve repair surgery for severe regurgitation in early June 2020. It was mostly successful with only a small residue of regurgitation reappearing 6 weeks after surgery which I have been told happens with 10 % of patients who undergo this type of Surgery. I also learned that during the surgery the Doctors discovered my Chordae tendineae had ruptured prior to the operation so two chords were replaced with Nylon Synthetic chords. This wasn't discussed prior to the surgery. I also didn't see any mention of it on the Echocardiogram reports prior to the Surgury. I have been wondering if anyone else also had their Chordae Tendineae replaced as part of the Mitral Valve Repair and was this need for additional surgery discussed prior to surgery ?

Hello Everyone, I hope you are all keeping well. I am just back from the hospital Cardiology department and thought it might be time for another 'Update'. OK so I my OHS for MV repair was 10 weeks ago and so far things have been going well. Except for the Ocular Migraines which seemed to have come on with a vengeance after the Op. Usually 4-5 a day 3 to 4 times a week. Fortunately the pain wasn't that bad. But the visual disturbances where quite difficult to manage and lasted around 45 mins each time. So I was sent to an Opthamologist who did every test possible, 2.5 hours of testing, before declaring my eyes were not the problem and I needed to see a Neurologist as soon as possible. I went to a Neurologist the following week and had a CAT scan which showed the Brain was working perfectly well and in very good condition, thank God. He prescribed some medication that was only meant to be taken once the pain had started not the Visual Disturbances. I followed his directions when I had the next headache and felt pain and within ten minutes I had a significant episode of Angina. Not Nice !! Lucky I was with a friend who is a Nurse and she was able to keep an eye on me. Needless to say the Cardiologist advised me Not to take the tablets again. The following week I went back to the Cardiatric surgeon for a follow up visit and he said he could hear another murmur. I had already had an Echocardiogram before I left the hospital after the Operation and there was no sign of any Regurgitation. Now ten weeks later there is another Murmur. The Cardiologist ordered another Echocardiogram which I had today and it revealed there is a Mild Murmur in the Valve that was operated on ( MV with severe Regurge) as well as a slight murmur in the Tricuspid Valve. Nothing to worry about according to him and the Cardiatric surgeon but needs to be checked on every two months to make sure it isn't getting any worse. I found this news to be very disappointing as I was hoping there would be no more problems with any of my Valves. I would like to ask if anyone on this forum has had a similar problem? Apparently my Valve may have been better off being replaced rather than repaired. ------------------------------ Shirley Giggacher