Lynne's Posts

I am now starting on the long journey of getting organised for my mitral valve repair(I hope) my emotions are all up and down. I am hoping to have the robotic surgery done at Cleveland Clinic but first have to sort out my bleeding issue. My surgeries never go as planned . I had back surgery hree weeks ago and still have a leak in the dura which the surgeon isn't sure will seal and the liquid be absorbed. The surgeon also asked my husband if I was taking aspirin as I bled a lot so my first visit will be to the hemotologist. Did you know that you can't just get a referral to see a hemotologist and book an appointment? The doctor's office has to send over lots of reports ( I've only see this cardiologist twice) and the co ordinater of new patients reads the reports and decides whether you can see the hemotologist. I was so angry and frustrated that I phoned and yelled at my poor husband who has no control over these matters except to tell me to see the hemotologist and tell him what we think the problem is. I'm hoping that Dr Gillinov will still be prepared to operate on me even if there is a bleeding issue as the operation is only to repair (hopefully) the one valve and the bleeding issue will be sorted out. I'm very stressed about the type of surgery I want as I really don't want a full sternotomy if at all possible. What is very interesting is that Houstob (where I live) is considered a major medical place and only the full sternotomy is fine here!

I now need to decide what procedure I want. Do most people still have the sternotomy or are more people going for the robotic procedure or the mini sternotomy? I was told that if the surgeon starts doing the robotic procedure and then sees that he can't repair the valve he has to convert the surgery to a full Sternotomy? Has this happened to anyone and how have you coped?