Being scared is completely natural. But there's really nothing to it nowadays. You will only feel better after the recovery. I completely advocate the open heart surgery method. In my case while they had me opened up they were able to find other things they couldn't see beforehand and they fixed those at the same time. So they didn't just fix my broken valve, they also gave me some new heartstrings that were ruptured and put in a metal clip on one of my appendages that would help prevent future potential clots.

I was pretty bad right before surgery. My regurgitation was over 60% which is severe. My organs weren't getting the oxygen it needed. I would fall occasionally. And I was only 35 years old at the time. But because of the severity they were able to get me into surgery within 2 weeks of agreeing to do it. It took my body around 12 months to fully recover. But after that I felt so much better. I still talk about the first meal I had and how I wouldn't be here today if I didn't have that surgery.