Jennifer Donohue - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

2539 days ago

I am 42 and have been diagnosed with mod-sev mitral valve regurgitation. I just found out something was wrong a couple of months ago when I fainted at my 42nd ...Read more

I am 42 and have been diagnosed with mod-sev mitral valve regurgitation. I just found out something was wrong a couple of months ago when I fainted at my 42nd birthday party (happy birthday) so this is all new and very shocking. I was sent to Dr. Philpott, a surgeon at Sentara Norfolk Heart Hospital here in Virginia who I really learned a lot from and genuinely liked. I am very interested in the robotic approach so he has referred me to Dr. Gillinov at the Cleveland Clinic. After reviewing my file, I received a phone call from a nurse at Dr. Gillinov's office with a conflicting opinion. However, I was able to schedule an appointment to be evaluated by the CC on December 14th and have another EKG, Echo, and Stress Echo done and speak to a cardiologist at CC Dr. Luis Rodriguez. Has anyone received conflicting opinions on moving forward with surgery and, if so, did you/would you go for a third (tie breaker) opinion? Thanks for listening...

Hi Jennifer, I am from Chesapeake and had my aortic valve replaced via TAVR at Sentara Heart Hospital ... Read more

Hi Jennifer, I am from Chesapeake and had my aortic valve replaced via TAVR at Sentara Heart Hospital in October. Approximately 8 years ago my brother had robotic surgery for his mitral valve at Vidant hospital at East Carolina Heart Institute. Dr. Randolph Chitwood did his repair Using the davinci machine. Read his Wikipedia page to learn about Dr. Chitwood if you are interested. We really liked him and my brother is still doing well. He had some type of ring put in for his mitral valve robotically.

Ps he was about 48 at the time. Dr. Chitwood was the first to do robotic surgery in the us on the mit ... Read more

Ps he was about 48 at the time. Dr. Chitwood was the first to do robotic surgery in the us on the mitral valve. He also has a couple of videos you should watch on you tube. He has won many awards. East Carolina is about a two hour drive. Good luck. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Jennifer Donohue Thank you so much Karen. My cousin had the maze procedure at Sentara Heart Hospital in October. Per ... Read more

Jennifer Donohue Thank you so much Karen. My cousin had the maze procedure at Sentara Heart Hospital in October. Perhaps I passed by your room during one of my visits to him. I hope your recovery is going well. Thank you for the info. I will do some research on East Carolina and Dr. Chitwood. I started looking into UVA to see if they preform a lot of robotic MVRs also (they are in-network, one less battle).

Jennifer Donohue Dr. Chitwood retired....

Rose Madura I had four opinions and they were all the same. It wouldn't hurt to get a tie breaker. Otherwise it's ... Read more

Rose Madura I had four opinions and they were all the same. It wouldn't hurt to get a tie breaker. Otherwise it's kind of a difficult decision for you. I'm sure there is someone who took the place of this Dr Chitwood. Best wished.

Phyllis Petersen I didn't have any difference of opinion when Dr. Gillinov reviewed my records. Have you had a TEE alr ... Read more

Phyllis Petersen I didn't have any difference of opinion when Dr. Gillinov reviewed my records. Have you had a TEE already? I had my MVr done robotically by Dr. Gillinov last year (Oct. 13, 2016) and have been doing well since. It's possible when they do their workup they may change the conflicting opinion. There's such a wide range of thinking on when it's optimal to do surgery.
BTW, two people from this community will be there having surgery with Dr. Gillinov, Karen and Betty, one robotic and one open chest. You may want to connect with them if you have the time.

Oh, I did not know he retired. He is actually a UVA graduate. He has trained many on robotic surgery ... Read more

Oh, I did not know he retired. He is actually a UVA graduate. He has trained many on robotic surgery. They have a good program there, but uva is great also. Good luck to you and let me know if you have any other questions I can answer.

Jennifer Donohue @Phyllis, Yes, I had a TEE done last month which showed the regurgitation was more severe than origin ... Read more

Jennifer Donohue @Phyllis, Yes, I had a TEE done last month which showed the regurgitation was more severe than originally thought with two jets of regurgitation (guess I have two bum leaflets) and that was when my cardiologist sent me to Dr. Jonathan Philpott at Sentara Heart Hospital in Norfolk VA. I have written to both Karen DellaFave and Betty Atwater who will be in for surgery at the CC while I'm being evaluated. Crazy how small this heart community is.

Phyllis Petersen I enjoy meeting members from this community. We understand each other!

You really can't get any better advise then at Cleveland Clinic- they have been rated # 1 in heart ca ... Read more

You really can't get any better advise then at Cleveland Clinic- they have been rated # 1 in heart care for the last 23 years. I just had surgery done by Dr. Gillinov at CC. He has done more mitral valve repair than any other surgeon in the world. They have so much experience and will give you the best possible answer. CC was my second opinion, my first appointment was in July and my surgery was on Nov 29th. I feel so fortunate to have had my surgery there. Best wishes to you.