Duane's Posts

I am eating all kinds of heart healthy boring food and getting used to it. I will say that my first meal after leaving the hospital was the biggest, greasiest pizza i could find. Told my wife to look the other way. Eventually she won out. I eat like a squirrel now. Good luck in recovery.

Duane - I had a mitral valve repair via mini-thoracotomy. I talked to surgeons who did full sternotomies to full robotic before making my decision. There are pluses and minuses to all of these entry choices, but the pain and recovery times are shorter with the mini-t without extending surgical and pump time. If I had to do it again, I would choose the mini-t all day long. The repair/replacement is the most important part. As a robotic surgeon said to me, in a month, it won't matter how the entry was done. That's true! Consider all the pros and cons - make the choice that's right for you! Good luck!

Duane, I had sternum route. Had no choice. Could not go minimally invasive, due to severe calcification on mitral valve. (Not the case with aorta cal.) The sternum approach is approximately 2 to 3 days longer in the hospital and a much longer healing process. Also- I would compare the surgical outcome stats of the two surgeons— survival stat, re-admit rates, etc.

Duane, I had the full sternotomy to replace my heavily calcified aortic valve and perform 2 CABGs (bypass grafts) ... so no choice. The sternum takes a long time to heal properly, but the results are what matter. And so far (11 weeks post-op) I'm doing great. Unfortunately, since we only have one or the other type of surgery, tough to compare levels of pain. But I can tell you mine was very manageable and after I left CICU, I only needed acetaminophen (aka Tylenol).