Michelle's Journal

Adam Pick  Hi Michelle, Great question. Fyi, I had aortic valve surgery. But, I have spoke with many mitral valve patient success stories over the years. In fact, I have filmed several videos with your surgeon, Dr. Marc Gerdisch, and his patients. I will post them below. I hope that helps your anxiety. My thoughts and prayers are with you!

Richard Munson  Probably one of the valves that has the greatest success stories. I think it is the most common of the valve procedures. In my case i had non robotic minimally invasive mitral valve repair and maze procedure in january. By all indications, follow up echos, i am doing great. I feel terrific and just this week i am be fitted for a 2 week monitor to see if the maze procedure successfully ended my a fib incidents which are common with mitral valve
Issues. Repair is always preferred over replace if possible and access to your heart can be accomplished in a few different ways. Robotic probably has the fastest recovery time due to smaller incisions. Splitting the sternum
The longest. I am also 79 years old and was very active and remain so. I’m sure you will get other responses with different opinions. I can only speak for myself.

Adam Pick  You are in the best of hands with Dr. Gerdisch. You can learn more about him and see 100+ patient tesimonials for him at https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/surgeons/dr-Marc-Gerdisch-Indianapolis-Indiana.php.

Adam Pick  Michelle, Here's one more great video with Dr. Gerdisch's patients that I thought you might like to see. :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ3x1dfS1o0

Deena Z  You have an awesome surgeon, Michelle. Super important. I had my mitral valve repaired six months ago. My surgeon had to cut through the sternum, because of my severe calcification. What you should know is that it was not that painful. I know, hard to believe! But I was incredibly exhausted for a host of reasons. Just know that you will need a lot of sleep and will feel very weak. You will rapidly gain strength so that when you are discharged you can walk around your hospital floor fairly well. You also will end up lying on your back for a couple of months when you sleep and it will get annoying, - it’s uncomfortable. My recovery thus far has been a great success and so pleased (happy!) that I did it. You will feel the same way and let out a long exhale!!

Thomas Brusstar  I had an open heart mitral valve repair with a full sternotomy 3 years ago. My surgeon preferred the full open procedure for my repair. Beforehand, my surgeon estimated a 98% chance he could repair, not replace, my valve; and he did a 100% successful repair. I went in on a Tuesday morning and was home for dinner Friday. My mitral valve was still not leaking at all as of my 2 year ultrasound checkup, so that's great. You will be weak for several weeks after the surgery, as there will be blood loss and they prefer to avoid transfusing. But you will be amazed at how quickly you recover after the surgery, as you will feel stronger every day.

Maurice Gordon  I had my mitral valve repair seven weeks ago in the UK. Full sternotomy as the minimally invasive procedure is not so common in the UK, plus the cardiac hospital is very near to my home. I feel great. I am having to hold myself back from doing too much exercise! My chest has all healed. Your body will make you take it easy at first anyway. I was nervous, but once you are in the hospital they take such good care of you that you just go through all the steps. I spent eleven days in hospital, this was only because you will be on Warfarin/Coumadin for three months after the procedure with a repair and for life with a replacement valve. It took several days to get my INR level up to 2 which it had to be before I could go home. Level should be at 2.5 but I go to my doctor's to have this monitored, at first every three days, then weekly, now fortnightly. The medication is the worst part. I don't like the bisoprolol beta blocker as I find it can give me stomach cramps and I may be on this or another blocker long-term, but I will speak to my cardiologist. The warfarin is not an issue and it is only short-term. I was also prescribed furosemide, a diuretic, but I had to stop this as it made me feel faint along with the beta blocker. Anyway, follow the medical advice. It is a routine procedure for them, but not for us! It will be fine.

Susan Lynn  Michelle - Waiting is the worst part of the process! I had minimally-invasive mitral valve surgery on a Friday morning and was released from the hospital by mid-day on Monday. I was able to walk the halls, unassisted, from the second day and felt 95% recovered in two weeks. The fatigue lingers for awhile, so afternoon power naps were helpful. You're going to be just fine!! You can do it!

Dana Eyre  Michelle - I had the full deal - full sternotomy. Waiting is hard. The first few days after surgery are wobbly and weird - it's strange knowing they've sliced into you, and having tubes (drains) coming out of you, but your team knows how to take care of you. They'll push you to start moving. Listen to them. Follow the exercise and recovery guidelines, and listen to your body. Don't be afraid to take pain killers if you feel pain. I took them for about 3 weeks. I had a recliner - it was easier sleeping for about 2 months before I went back to bed. Make sure you do cardiac rehabilitation - that really helps both with exercise and support. Listen to your docs, talk - ask every question. Know that you're not the first and as weird as it sounds your team does this all the time - cutting open a heart is just a normal day for them. So take strength in that - they really do know what they're doing and they care about your recovery. Stay in touch with heartvalvessurgery.com - lots of experience here!

Cora L Testar  Hi Michelle. I had emergency open heart surgery in September, 2013 with a full sternotomy and the use of a heart lung machine. The surgeons repaired my tricuspid and used a porcine tissue replacement for the mitral valve. I had significant chronic AFIB before the operation which was not corrected by the procedure.

I'll not sugar coat my reply. In general, it's not the operation's effect on your heart that will bother you. You probably won't feel any pain, for instance, emanating from inside your chest. However, if you've ever had a broken an arm or leg, even if you don't recall the initial discomfort to breaking the limb it's the application of the stabilizing cast plus managment of the healing process itself that will be pre-occupying. In other words, it's your broken sternum that will take some time to recover. The first days can feel pretty overwhelming but this operation is now so common that hospital staff are expert at closely monitoring your situation and are extremely helpful. They know it'll be tough, at first, to confidently take a deep breath in the first day or two but they can help with advice and encouragement and intervention if necessary. Recovery really needs your lungs to be working properly and your sternum is surgically protected so you can't possibly hurt yourself by breathing. They also know how important it is that you are up and walking around as soon as you can manage it. Getting on to your feet will present a challenge at first, but you'll very quickly learn how to roll and slide out of bed on your own and when your first accomplish this you'll feel like you just conquered Everest. You may be horrified by the sight of your incision when you first see it, and you probably won't like the scar it leaves behind. If the sight of it bothers you later, there are lots of cosmetic remedies available. Never bothered me. I always think of it as my Victory Scar.

How long it takes for your sternum to completely heal is pretty much up to you. Strenuous exercise or lifting objects, for instance, may set back the healing and add to the recovery time. Otherwise, within a few weeks you'll have resumed your normal activities and feeling much better than you have for years. You'll feel fully recovered within 6 months and by the one year anniversary the operation will have become a distant memory.

So, basically, if your life does not include heavy exercise, lifting, pushing, etc. then you should be able to take on most of your usual activities within 4 to 6 weeks and sensing the gratification of regaining much more energy.

There are a few new precautions in resuming your normal life, though. For instance, most members of the public, upon seeing a person with a broken leg or arm in a cast, will be careful to not even accidentally bump into them or push them. But there are few, if any members of the public who could consider that the person standing in front of them, with no obvious disabilty actually has a broken sternum. People rushing to get on the bus don't realize it or impatiently standing in line for some event don't consider it.. People wearing backpacks have no idea of the consequences of suddenly turning around in a crowded elevator. Yes, I speak from personal experience. LOL. Ouch!!! AVOID CROWDS, especially crowded elevators. (Good advice anyway, during the pandemic.)

In prep, I'd say, relax your mind and body. The benefits of this operation so outweigh the short period of discomfort involved, there is no point in worrying about it. Besides you'll probably find yourself needlessly requiring assurances that everything is going well AFTER the procedure so no point in using up the worry stores. My best advice to you is to hug all those who are near and dear to you now. Excessively, if they'll allow it. Because there's no denying it. Bear hugs will have to go on hold for awhile. That fact, if you ask me, was the only nearly intolerable part of my open heart procedure and the recovery from it.

Oh, did I mention? I'm 80 years old and my open heart operation was 10 years ago. I guess the necessary blood thinner regimen was a bother at first, but I eventually bought a home testing coagulation testing machine eliminates the need for frequent lab visits so that was a minor problem. Temporary discomforts are long gone. Even my Victory Scar can barely be seen anymore. I've encountered no disappointments whatsoever except I wish my AFIB had corrected itself, concurrent with the operation, as it does for some people.

My very best wishes to you as you embark on the same road, especially for your speedy recovery. Keep your eye on the destination, not temporary setbacks. The operation had a profoundly positive and persistent effect on my general health and on my heart health. You can confidently expect a similar or even better outcome for yourself.

Rita Savelis  I second Cora's message. I had my mitral valve replaced along with my aortic valve at age 53 (6 years ago), and my tricuspid valve repaired. Recovery can take time. Every patient is different. I remember being exhausted and in discomfort (not pain) for months. Many patients get repairs (like you). I couldn't be repaired because I had too much fibrosis/scarring from previous radiation cancer treament. WIshing you the best, although I'm sorry that you have to go through this....

Ron Gifford  Hey, Michelle -- I'm an Indy resident also. Had open heart surgery (the full meal deal sternotomy) to repair my mitral valve almost one year ago (Sept. 25) at Community Heart Hospital. I'm doing great; recovery was pretty straightforward and by six or seven months post-op, I felt "back to normal," doing everything I was doing before surgery. If you'd like to talk more extensively by phone or in person, send me a note off-line at gif77@comcast.net and we can arrange a time to chat.

Cameron Peek  I will be keeping you in my thoughts because the waiting is such a hard part. I had open heart surgery for mitral and tricuspid valve repair almost 4 months ago. This community and the education that Adam sent made a huge difference throughout the journey.

Michelle Troxell  I want to lovingly thank each and every person that responded to my journal. I appreciate all of the information and honesty about your experiences. Love to all and continued great health 🥰

Ginny Turner  Hi Michelle, just joining the love here and wishing you all the best! You have an amazing surgeon. My mitral/tricuspid repair surgery with full sternotomy isn't until January in Cleveland, so I can't share my recovery story yet, but a big THANK YOU to everyone who responded to your post and offered encouragement. It helps all of us who will have this same surgery soon. I'm so grateful for Adam and this amazing community. Special prayers for you on Tuesday.

Lisa Balmer  Hi Michelle, I thought I posted a note to you last week to wish you well with your surgery today, but I don't see it displayed here. I hope it all goes well today and you are on your way to recovery tonight or tomorrow.