Pat's Guestbook

Hi Pat and welcome! I hope you'll find it very helpful to connect here. Lots and lots of us have had open-heart surgery and an aortic or mitral valve replaced. There are certainly fewer who have had both at the same time. My hospital stay was six days last fall when I had surgery to replace my aortic valve, aortic root and aortic aneurysm. Everyone's recovery is different. They get you walking as soon as possible in the hospital. Walking is a huge part of building strength back. Enrolling in cardiac rehab is highly recommended a few weeks after release. I'm not sure which aspects of recovery you most want to know about. You can post questions as entries in the "My Journal" section, and they will show up in the Community News Feed. People here are great to share their experiences and advice. Again, a warm welcome!

Hi Pat, My dad is two days and change post- open heart surgery for replacing his Aortic Valve and a coronary bypass. I've posted some about what he's undergone since Tuesday when he came out of surgery around 11AM. You might find my journals helpful but everybody's recovery is different. My father is 71 years old diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and 90% blockage of one coronary artery. His recovery has been pretty good up until this afternoon when he developed Atrial Fibrillation; some studies show up to 70% of open heart surgery patients develop A-Fib which is basically an erratic heart beat. My father could have opted for the TAVR route or Open Heart surgery since he was a borderline candidate (based on Society of Thoracic Surgeons risk profile) and after months of deliberation and surgical consults he decided on Open Heart. I can tell you more about that decision if you want to hear about It. Best of luck to you as you navigate this process.