LA's Journal

Hello everyone! I'm on the home stretch! It's Monday, 7/25, and next Tuesday, 8/2, I'll have my open heart surgery 2 days after my 63rd birthday! I'm having 2 coronary fistulas repaired, my mitral valve repaired or replaced, and hopefully this will all help bring down my PVC's. Rigid plate closure will seal my sternum which I hope will help my recovery. My doctor is Douglas Johnston here at the Cleveland Clinic so I know I'm in good hands.This Wednesday we move into the hospital connected hotel and I'm really looking forward to getting this over and done with. If anyone has any advise to make this surgery, rehab here, and/or recovery run more smoothly I would appreciate it!
I hope you are all doing well at whatever stage you are, on this grand adventure of heart surgery. Soon I'll be joining the "Zipper Club".

Adam, where can I purchase an Incision Shield I read about in your book? It sounds like such a great idea! Their website seems to be gone! My open heart surgery is coming up on August 2nd and I can us all of the help I can get. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Lizbeth Heatley

Thank-you Adam for this wonderful site! May I ask you to add coronary fistula to your list of patient issues when setting up our profiles. I know they are a bit rare but it would be nice if we who have the condition can see the other members who also have them. Thanks for listening and hope you will consider it .
In Heart Healing,
Lizbeth

Hello everyone! I'm looking for other women and men who have coronary fistulas or have had them repaired. They are fairly rare and I haven't been able to find any information about what it's like to have them repaired other than I need open heart surgery rather than the less invasive surgery. I have two that need to be repaired. Lucky me! At present I am talking to surgeons at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio but would be interested in hearing if you have had fistula repairs at other hospitals and which doctors performed your surgery. Thank-you for your help and attention. Healing Hugs to all, Lizbeth

Hello everyone! Has anyone had a rigid plate sternum closure after open heart surgery? I'm looking into it rather than wiring. It looks like a good and more stable technique. Anyone, male or female, experience its use and care to give me some pros and cons about your experiences? I know there are a few models on the market. Any personal experiences would be appreciated. I've read about several trials but there is nothing like hearing personal experiences. Thanks for any information you can give me. Sending Healing Hugs, LA

Hello. I need the help of this wonderful community. Has anyone had the Grand Pre Sternal closure system technique used on them, or a friend or loved one, rather than the traditional wire closure method? It's talked about on the Cleveland Clinic website as it was developed by three of the doctors there. You can see how it works on the jacemed.com website. It looks like such a wonderful option with many benefits. I'll be having open heart surgery in the future to close two of my coronary fistulae and to repair or replace my mitral valve due to prolapse. A fistula repair with coils through a catheterization procedure was already tried which didn't work so OHS is my next option. Any first-hand experience with this technique would be appreciated. Many thanks and I send healing hugs to all. LA