Duane's Journal

Deena Z  What a good feeling!!!!! Low inflammation diet, IF you have inflammation shown on blood tests. Either way, Mediterranean is still the one most supported by research, but there are other's that will disagree or find others diets better for them. Proof is in your numbers -via blood tests etc.

Susan Lynn  Woo-hoo, Duane! Glad your procedure is behind you and you're nearly two weeks into recovery! Did you have the mini-thoracotomy?

As far as diet goes, my cardiologist is a big fan of Dr. Esselstyn's approaches to a heart-healthy diet.

Best of luck with the remainder of your recovery! ❤

Richard Munson  I am eating all kinds of heart healthy boring food and getting used to it. I will say that my first meal after leaving the hospital was the biggest, greasiest pizza i could find. Told my wife to look the other way. Eventually she won out. I eat like a squirrel now. Good luck in recovery.

Susan Lynn  Duane - I had a mitral valve repair via mini-thoracotomy. I talked to surgeons who did full sternotomies to full robotic before making my decision. There are pluses and minuses to all of these entry choices, but the pain and recovery times are shorter with the mini-t without extending surgical and pump time. If I had to do it again, I would choose the mini-t all day long.

The repair/replacement is the most important part. As a robotic surgeon said to me, in a month, it won't matter how the entry was done. That's true! Consider all the pros and cons - make the choice that's right for you! Good luck!

Deena Z  Duane, I had sternum route. Had no choice. Could not go minimally invasive, due to severe calcification on mitral valve. (Not the case with aorta cal.) The sternum approach is approximately 2 to 3 days longer in the hospital and a much longer healing process.

Also- I would compare the surgical outcome stats of the two surgeons— survival stat, re-admit rates, etc.

Duane Shewmaker  Deena, thank you. You make a good point. Both Surgeons report very similar stats and ranking (97.1 vs 94.8). Leaning to undergo the mini-thoracotomy.

Craig Atwater  Duane, I had the full sternotomy to replace my heavily calcified aortic valve and perform 2 CABGs (bypass grafts) ... so no choice. The sternum takes a long time to heal properly, but the results are what matter. And so far (11 weeks post-op) I'm doing great. Unfortunately, since we only have one or the other type of surgery, tough to compare levels of pain. But I can tell you mine was very manageable and after I left CICU, I only needed acetaminophen (aka Tylenol).

Duane Shewmaker  Thanks Craig, glad to hear you are doing great. Everyone who responded are correct, the results are what matters most.