Guy Blachman - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

3123 days ago

1 person reacted to this

Hi this is a post from a friend who needs to undergo mitral valve repair: I know it's a very personal decision but would appreciate your thoughts: I'm debating ...Read more

Hi this is a post from a friend who needs to undergo mitral valve repair: I know it's a very personal decision but would appreciate your thoughts: I'm debating 2 options and can't make up my mind. One is staying really close to home, to my family and 3 small kids, in a familiar environment, and having an OHS through sternotomy. The other is having a minimally invasive surgery, but for that I need to travel far away from home and kids, a long flight to another country with a foreign language in an unfamiliar setting. Both surgeons are excellent and very experienced and I trust that both will do an excellent job repairing my mitral valve. Although the one that requires me to travel has an amazing character also... Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Peggy Whitecotton First of all you may not be a candidate for minimally invasive surgery. My surgeon had planned to do ... Read more

Peggy Whitecotton First of all you may not be a candidate for minimally invasive surgery. My surgeon had planned to do one but I woke up with ended up a full sternotomy based on the anatomy of my heart which is small and have a small chest (really not that bad). Trust me don't do this alone you need your family and support. Prepare yourself for recovery as well as surgery

Joanna Prisiajniouk Wow, I didn't know that a surgeon actually cannot judge if minimally invasive would be possible until ... Read more

Joanna Prisiajniouk Wow, I didn't know that a surgeon actually cannot judge if minimally invasive would be possible until the actual surgery? Did you need a bypass as well!

Joanna Prisiajniouk as well?? (Question mark, not explanation mark)

Gary Stripling Personally I think the support from your family and being close to home is most important. Like Peggy ... Read more

Gary Stripling Personally I think the support from your family and being close to home is most important. Like Peggy said, the recovery part after surgery is the part most people minimize, but that's the part that takes the longest and requires the most help with.

Peggy Whitecotton Joanna- I did not need a bypass, my surgeon had planned to do a mini sternotomy with about 4 inch inc ... Read more

Peggy Whitecotton Joanna- I did not need a bypass, my surgeon had planned to do a mini sternotomy with about 4 inch incision but ended up with a full sternotomy plus 2 broken ribs. He said it was the only way he could get a full view of my heart

Joanna Prisiajniouk Thanks Peggy for sharing. That must have been hard in you to have discovered that. I just keep thinki ... Read more

Joanna Prisiajniouk Thanks Peggy for sharing. That must have been hard in you to have discovered that. I just keep thinking that this should have been known from the start. I will be getting a second snd possibly third opinion on minimally invasive as what I'm learning is that not all surgeons are truly comfortable with it unless they themselves actually practice this frequently or daily over many years. There is so much to learn here from each other and I will post more as I do my research. I wasn't told that the reason was about the size of the heart but that a bypass is involved that would not enable me to have the minimally invasive surgery. I talked to another surgeon's office that actually does both AVR and single bypass 90% of the time...as there are so many cases like that. He operates daily. Of course I have not had an appointnent with him yet but I will see soon what the final decision really will be. Thus it is important to get many opinions if possible!

Wanda Mroz I had a choice and stuck with the sternotomy which turned out to be the wiser choice. I'd stick to t ... Read more

Wanda Mroz I had a choice and stuck with the sternotomy which turned out to be the wiser choice. I'd stick to the familiar myself but trust your gut... That will never be wrong. I trusted mine. 💞

Peggy Whitecotton Joanna - my surgeon is the top leading surgeon for SSM Heart hospitals in St Louis MO and very experi ... Read more

Peggy Whitecotton Joanna - my surgeon is the top leading surgeon for SSM Heart hospitals in St Louis MO and very experienced in minimally invasion also does robotic surgery as well. I was pleased with him and would go back again to him if needed. He has an excellent video you can watch, Google on, "learn about aortic valve stenosis by Dr David Theodoro." He has other videos as well. I love this man he saved my life

Peggy Whitecotton Also the mortally rate with him is less then 1%

Guy Blachmanposted an update

3516 days ago

1 person reacted to this

Echo before Mitral Valve repair surgery: "The left atrium is severely dilated. There is 4+ (severe) mitral regurgitation." Echo 5 months after MV repair surgery: ...Read more

Echo before Mitral Valve repair surgery: "The left atrium is severely dilated. There is 4+ (severe) mitral regurgitation." Echo 5 months after MV repair surgery: "The left atrium is normal. Compared to the previous study of 11/5/14, the mitral valve has been repaired with a reduction in left heart size. LV ejection fraction is slightly lower."

Tammy Pilcher That is so great, Guy! I hope I get great news too when I have my first echo since surgery. Prayers ... Read more

Tammy Pilcher That is so great, Guy! I hope I get great news too when I have my first echo since surgery. Prayers for continued progress!

Terry Shermeister That's so nice to hear Guy. My surgery is May 14. I'm a bit freaked by all the stuff, yet I want to ... Read more

Terry Shermeister That's so nice to hear Guy. My surgery is May 14. I'm a bit freaked by all the stuff, yet I want to be back to my normal self both emotionally and physically when this is all done. It's nice to hear great news.

Great news! God is Good....