Bailey's Posts

Hi Bailey, happy anniversary! Interesting question. Heart disease per se doesn’t cause prostate enlargement as far as I know. I have no idea why your prostate symptoms would improve. Though...there are same risk factors which increase risk of both heart problems and prostate growth, like diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and age... Something I will definitely look into. Keep on ticking!

Bailey, I had robotics MVrepair just one day before you. My progress has been steady, except for some muscle aches after discontinuing the Gabapentin last week. Tomorrow I'm starting cardiac rehab. As a consequence of my surgery I developed afib, for which I'll be taking meds for about 6 months. My cardiologist told me that 6 months from surgery I'll be 90% back to normal and that in a year I'll be 100%. I'm 57 years old, physically fit, run marathons, vegan/vegetarian, never smoked, never drugs, virtually no alcohol. I'm mentioning all these factors because lifestyle has an impact on the person's recovery. Hope this helps!

Thanks for sharing your experience Dylan. Glad to hear your progress has been steady. I know everyone will be different, but it's helpful to know what your cardiologist shared with you. It helps to recalibrate my own expectations. Sounds like it's not unreasonable for it to be 6 months or more before I'm really feeling back to normal. I'm mostly looking forward to going for bike rides, doing some hiking, maybe a little tennis without needing a couple of days of recuperation.

Bailey and Dylan, Thank you for your posts. This has been the biggest question, How long is the recovery? My mitral valve repair is coming up in four weeks. Although I am 70 years old, I've been extremely active, hiking nearly every weekend 5 to 10 miles and going to the gym five days a week. I've been worried about the recovery time. Does everyone need rehab. after surgery?

Welcome Bailey, congratulations on making it to the recovery side. I hope you find our heart warriors informative and supportive. My surgery was a Bentall procedure which is different from yours. All I can say is that recovery is a day by day thing. One day you feel great and the next not so great, sometimes you start sleeping good and all of the sudden you wake up several times during the night. But I can tell you from my experience that day by day it will get better. You have to be patient with your body and you being a very active person before surgery even more. But know that you will recover, you will get stronger and soon you will be doing all the things you used to do, but one day at a time. Don’t try to do too much all at once. Walk when you can, it does help. If you have questions ask away. Hope your recovery goes well. Be well and God bless you “heart warrior”.

I think you are right on the “grief process” aspect of recovery. For many of us, finding out we needed heart surgery was a total shock. It does take time to process and accept “what is”. Plus, the heart surgery itself is major, and takes time to physically recover. I was always into yoga and meditation, and that has helped me with the process. Trying to appreciate every day, doing nice things for yourself, and putting down feelings in forums like this have helped me. It is a process that can take time. So try be patient with yourself as you move through these feelings.

Bailey, it looks like you and I are at about the same place in the recovery timeline. I completely understand what you are saying. I feel like every day I am “testing the fences” to see where my limits are. Some days I am happy and feel like cheering “look at me go” - and some days I am quite disappointed and think - “really? When is this going to be better? Is this a forever thing now?” I think the ups and downs are normal. I am trying to take this time to learn to focus and be thankful for the here and now and to “just be” and be grateful. I find writing helps to process my emotions and thoughts. I have also found the meditation app “headspace” very helpful. Perhaps most helpful is the support of this wonderful group of warriors. :) I wish you well on your journey. This road may not be easy, but blessings can be found along the way if you look for them.

I did not have the same surgery as you and although I knew from a young age that I would need surgery, I still had a grieving process to get through. After surgery, I had so many complications that I sometimes wondered if I'd ever feel right but I eventually felt better and now, almost 4 years later, I feel better than I can ever remember. Hang in there.

Every change takes a long time to get used to. This was a big change. You need to mourn the past and process what you've been through. One gets to a new normal. It's not necessarily better, just different. Good days and bad days. Surgery is over in a day, but healing takes time. Take care.

I also had a mitral valve prolapse, basically asymptomatic since ago 20, that turned into a flail leaflet and noticeable shortness of breath ("pneumonia") at about age 54. Now almost 3 years later, I think part of my positive outlook was just marvelling at the healing my body was capable of. Going from a grossly failing circulatory system (which would have doomed me to an early death years ago) to a heart that is efficient for the first time ever seemed like a personal accomplishment. My heart muscles (esp. the left atrium) suffered while my heart was in distress, and I think my lungs probably have permanent damage from the pulmonary hypertension caused by a year or more of a flail leaflet on my mitral valve; but now I feel like the heart valve issue is off the table for chronic health trouble. Something else will have to get me! There is a kind of grief process in realizing I needed this major surgery, and it "concentrates the mind" to consider that death was an option. I have a teenage son, and the idea of him losing his father was painful; but I also feel like I gained some perspective. I know I could have died, and that knowledge definitely vaulted me into an older age; yet I know I'm now much healthier than I was 5 years ago, so I should feel younger! You are definitely healthy in addressing it as grief. I also would say it was healthy for me to communicate about it, and in a way to make my heart valve surgery a part of my "identity." I'm not afraid of it or its issues, and it brought into better focus a mature sense of what I give to those in my life.