Michelle's Journal

Richard Munson  Well, don’t feel like the lone ranger with blurry vision which causes lightheadedness. Many of us have it or had it. I can save you a trip to the eye doctor who will tell you your eyes are fine. Mine is better after 6 months
But still occurs. Like most of us, i never had it before the surgery. So, the obvious answer is it is a result of ohs. Heart lung, anesthesia, who knows. Keep on walking, my endurance has improved greatly, on the treadmill.

Rita Savelis  Yeah. It would be nice to be "fixed", but OHS can leave after effects like shortness of breath. I think you should do what you can, follow your passion and continue deployments. I get frustrated by my lack of energy but it comes and goes. Take care.

Victoria Baker  Wow! This is my first time to see someone else talk about "Kaleidoscope" vision with blurriness and light headedness. Can someone explain the WHY behind this new symptom?

Richard Munson  Its not a new symptom just one that does not get a lot of air time except on this site. If you knew about it before surgery, you would still do the surgery i suspect. Death vs occasional blurry vision is an easy choice..

Susan Lynn  Michelle - I thought I would feel energetic after surgery, but was tired for a long time. I also noticed the shortness of breath and even asked my cardiologist for another stress test - I was sure my heart was malfunctioning, but it wasn't. I found the only thing that improved my endurance was consistent exercise. My cardiac rehab facility has an extended class and I continued to go twice a week for two years until the pandemic closed it last year. I have just started up, again, and it's still a challenge.

Also, last year - two years after my surgery - I started to get the flashing lights in my eyes. I saw two ophthalmologists and a retina specialist only to tell me that nothing was wrong. The flashes continued for almost an entire year and I now only notice them intermittently. My docs never mentioned they could be connected to my surgery.

I guess, to Richard's point, we're going to have to deal with the fallout of having surgery because the downside of not having it far outweighs these issues. The lightheadedness might be an easy fix if you're still taking medication - it sounds like you're experiencing drops in blood pressure.
That could be a simple Rx adjustment. Definitely reach out to your cardiologist!

Good luck to you. Please keep us posted on your progress!

Michelle Payne  Thank you all for your responses. It's comforting someone understands what I am going through. I stopped the Metoprolol over a year ago. I try to keep my water intake up to keep my blood pressure up. My cardiologist thought

Michelle Payne  It might be my annuloplasty ring was too tight (sorry, I got cut off in the last reply). I really appreciate you all taking time to respond and empathize.

Richard Munson  Scary thought that the annulplasty ring is too tight. Does it loosen up over time? Never read that could happen. All of us that had the mitral repair probably have one. One more thing to keep me up at night.

Richard Munson  When my wife says i am grumpy i may tell her to back off cuz my annulplasty ring is too tight today. May not work.