Janelle's Posts

Dear Janelle, I am 7 months post-op and don't have perivalvular but rather valvular leak, 2 central jets creating mild regurgitation. I am not sure it will go away. It could stay the same or progress further. There is not much I can do but take care of myself, stress as little as possible and accept the situation... I am taking bisoprolol and Aspirin EF is 55%. I understand your frustration.

I read your story and it seems we have (had) a lot in common. I had Barlows too and the surgery ended up being trickier for the surgeon than expected, my surgery also took longer than expected. Apparently, when the surgeon talked to my fiance immediately after the surgery, he told him my tissue was "delicate"...not sure what part of the heart tissue he was referring to, but I wonder if the stitches or whatever they use to secure the annuloplasty ring could have pulled out of the delicate heart tissue and created the gap/leak around the ring. I always want to know the "why" and unfortunately we often don't get that answered. My cardiologist is ordering a transesophageal ECHO to get a better look at how bad the leak is. I am sorry you are experiencing a leak as well. It's hard when things don't go perfectly, but, like you, I'm just trying to accept the situation and focus on what I do have control over.

You are right, it's hard when things don't go perfectly, but that is life I guess. Let us know how the TEE went. I am pretty sure that the part of my posterior leaflet being hypoplastic or "strict" was the reason he couldn't get them "in line". Right away after the surgery both surgeon and anestesiologist told me that my valve was very weird, unique, funny, never before seen 🙈🙈😂 how annoying. Keep us posted please!!!

Janelle - I had minimally-invasive mitral valve repair, but the surgeon placed the incision vertically down the side of my right breast. It was only about three inches to begin with, but it is nearly invisible. There were two other tiny incisions for instruments and a camera, as well, as the incision above my right thigh for connection to the bypass. One of the other advantages of the mini-thoracotomy is that the nerves are frozen during this entry, so the initial recovery is almost painless, however, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that you will feel numbness, pins and needles, and occasionally brief painful sensations for a year or more afterward while they are regenerating. I would do it, again, in a heartbeat - pun intended! The most important thing is getting a good repair. We've seen invisible sternotomy and mini-sternotomy scars on this site, so don't make the cosmetics a bigger priority than they need to be. I was fortunate enough to get both! Best of luck with your research! ❤️

Janelle - I also had a minimally invasive surgery - AVR. My main incision is horizontal at the top of my right breast. It did not quite hang naturally for at least a month or so but now looks pretty normal. My AVR was on 10/6/21 and I am just getting some feeling back in that area - along with the pins and needles others have described. Glad you are on the mend!

Great questions! I did an on-line rehab program which started 2 months post-op. It was delivered mainly on line because of Covid outbreaks. The effectiveness of the program was compromised, but it did promote a cautious approach to recovery and fitness, and that was probably a good thing for me as I am an ambitious fit-for-life person. In those early months the rehab team didn't want my heart rate to spike beyond 140-150 and emphasised the importance of maintaining a normal (systolic under 120 RESTING) bp average and a resting bpm in the 50s and 60s. Although I'm a lifetime fitness person and fairly ambitious I decided to be patient and to stay with low impact, walking, xcountry skiing, and light resistance for my first year post-op. Now at 18 months I'm doing much more and happy to have erred on the side of caution. Everyone's recovery is different, but now is an opportunity to slow down, monitor your progress, and heal. Time will fly even if you take a slow cautious approach. Best wishes!

Janelle - I had to wait about two months to get into my local cardiac rehab. You sound like you're in fantastic shape already, but looking into a local program couldn't hurt. In my class, we started out very slowly - slow walks, low/no inclines, light weights, etc. But, they did monitor individual progress, so the few people who were able to handle more were allowed to do it. You'll be wearing a heart monitor and your bp will be checked before/during/after the class, so they will stop you if they see you're overexerting yourself. One of the biggest returns from cardiac rehab was engaging with the other participants. Similar to this site, sometimes you just need to talk to someone who's been there. It's very therapeutic! Best of luck to you! ❤️

I was able to sign up for cardiac rehab after my 6 week checkup. They calculated my max heart rate which was 220- my age. They targeted 80% of that which was 140 and would let me get to about 150 before they would ask me to slow down. They measured how many mets I was putting out at each session and verified that it increased each week or every couple weeks while not exceeding that 150 number. They would also take BP regularly and verify it was elevated while I was exercising. If you are experiencing elevated heart rate, I would just be careful to make sure you don't exceed ~85% of your calculated max heart rate. That seemed to be their biggest concern. If you have a watch or some other heart rate monitor, you should use it if you are planning to exercise prior to rehab IMO.