Christopher's Journal

Richard Munson  A little surprised if your valve is in the severe stage that surgery is not close at hand. I was told to stay away from heavy weights both before and after my repair. Enormous strain on heart my cardiologist said. Seems to make sense to me. Not that it was a burning desire at 79. I was questioning light weights which he ok’d in moderation. I think he said, why push the envelope. 

Doug Fults  I asked the same question about exercise at CC when my severe MR was confirmed (despite being mostly asymptomatic).  I was also told yes, but to keep it moderate, and "don't start training for a marathon or start a weight lifting program".  I picked up a Fitbit so I could verify that I was keeping my heart rate in the moderate range, and aimed for 3 or so miles of walking most days while awaiting surgery.  I also got a copy of Dr. Gillinov's "Heart 411" and worked on my diet as well :).    It was really nice having that to focus on while waiting!

Christopher T  I was surprised when they told me it was severe. I feel I have been largely asymptomatic. They kept asking if I had all these symptoms. I said no, none of that. I guess looking back I feel like I had a little bit decrease in cardio capacity running. But I thought it was because of age and I wasn’t pushing my self as hard training for marathons. The last couple years I have been doing runs for fun. I had a stress test echo done in 2022 it said I got to 23mets. Which the cardiologist said was very high for my age group. Maybe my cadio conditioning from running was hiding the fact of the mvp/ regurgitation. I guess my biggest concern is making the regurgitation worse which will impact the candidacy for a repair. Thanks for the heart 411 recommendation I’ll check it out. 

Christopher T  I also got an Apple Watch after diagnosis and use to stay in zone 2. The reason the cardiologist told me to keep working out was to keep the body strong for surgery.

Yumiko Ishida  I was not given any specific restrictions but was warned that lifting heavy weights could worsen my condition. If you are able to exercise, it is a good idea to be as fit as possible without overdoing it. Since you can’t use your arms post surgery for a while, a strong core would be helpful. Sitting up from a reclined position and then standing up, all without using your arms. 

Richard Munson  I was also asymptomatic and severe. Also answered no to the questions but after the surgery felt much better so maybe the symptoms were there just not the common ones like swollen ankles i recall them asking about. I did ask for the surgery as i felt i was kicking the can down the road and my first option was repair. Luckily my choice of surgeons in boston was a repair specialist. 

Dan Fouratt  I never received a straight answer either.  I did not do strength training but wanted to keep cardio up.  Before I  failed stress test I would go 3.4 mph at 14 then 4.2 at 15.  I was told not to do that but never what to do.  I reduced it but was frustrated about not getting the answer.  I feel your pain.

Susan Lynn  My mitral valve regurgitation was much more severe under exertion (as revealed by my stress test) so my cardiologist advised me not to exercise before surgery.   It was only a short period of time as my repair was scheduled two months later.  Everyone's situation is unique.   

Jill Reeder  Hi Christopher. Today it has been 8 weeks since my MVR surgery. It was open heart. Like you, I had no symptoms that I was aware of. I’m not a weight lifter, but my cardiologist said to continue with cycling and other activities up until surgery.  Your cardiologist knows you best. 

I echo Yumiko regarding a strong core … also build your quads in advance. Not being able to use your upper body during recovery is a thing. 

Do you have a surgery date yet?

Christopher T  No I do not have a date yet. I have been accepted for minimal invasive robotic surgery. Pending everything checks out. I know this differs , what do you estimate as length of time without upper body movement after minimal invasive? 

Doug Fults  Perhaps I'm an anomaly, but I'm not having any recollection, in the days after my robotically assisted MV repair, of not being able to use my upper body.  Sure, the right side of my chest no longer felt like it was part of me (being numb and awkwardly bulging with bandages), and I had some terrific upper back pain making it difficult to lay comfortably (a side-effect that appears to have been relatively unique to me), but no issues moving arms, sitting up or getting in & out of bed that I can recall. So I'm curious, is this a sternotomy thing? have other robotically-assisted surgery folks experienced such issues?  or did I just get lucky? :)

Susan Lynn  Doug - I had minimally-invasive mitral valve surgery and had no problem lifting my arms, but I had a lifting restriction for three months post-op per my surgeons instructions. It's not that we're not able to use our arms, the strain of using them isn't recommended for our healing hearts. Remember, the surgical repairs for minimally invasive procedures are the same, only the access to the heart is different.

Robert Miller  I am not a doctor but I would not recommend doing any strenuous exercises if you have severe regurgitation. If you have severe regurgitation, your heart has to work harder which can lead to heart failure, reducing the vessel size to keep up pressure (so I was told), etc. If you have done regular exercises before, you should be just fine taking it easy for the next month or so before your surgery. If you haven't done much exercises, I don't think it will help doing them now a couple of months before surgery. 

Doug Fults  Ah thanks for the explanation Susan.  I'd not received a lifting restriction, but then I did do pretty well on the pre-op stress test, despite the Severe regurgitation. As you say, everyone's situation is unique.  One other recollection from my initial consult in CC was the emphasis on moderation, both directions - alongside "moderate aerobic activity is fine, but don't overdo it" was the comment "don't become inactive;  we want you to be in good shape for surgery."