Barbara's Photos

Susan Lynn  Welcome, Barbara! Beautiful picture - I had an MV repair (7 months ago, today!). Sorry to hear that you're facing surgery, again. You may want to wait before coming to the conclusion that a replacement is your only alternative. Your TEE might provide a better picture of your condition and options. If, however, a repair is required, there are plenty of people on this site who can share their experiences. The recurring theme that I've read from many individuals who are on their second round of heart surgery are the advancements they've noticed since the first time around. Just do your homework, get multiple opinions, and make an educated decision. There are many competent, experienced surgeons out there. Select the one with whom you have the utmost confidence. Best of luck! We'll be here to support you all the way through recovery!

Barbara Blackwell  Susan, what a lovely message. So nice to hear from you and thank you for the good insight. The first time around I was, as silly as it might sound, excited to get it done. I had no fear oddly enough, and felt I was in extremely competent hands. It really will be up to the surgeons to make the determination what they can do ( repair again or replace).....I guess I'm assuming that at this point replacement will be the only option, but we will see. I'm probably also a lot more concerned about complications, but other than this issue, am overall quite healthy so maybe that will help. Hope you're doing well in your recovery.....you must be pretty much all back to normal by now. Thanks again!!, x

Joy Rose  All the best for tomorrow Barbara. I had mitral and triscupid repair, with possible mitral valve replacement but didn't have to. I chose the bovine one, just in case as I didn't want to be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. Everything went smoothly and I put that down to a fantastic surgeon and being fit before surgery. Waiting is definitely the worst. So, try and put your mind at rest and have some goals for the new year. Thinking of you tomorrow xox