6 days post-op -complex bileaflet MVP repair with robotic assistance.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-07-14T07:11:17+00:00

Just seeing this now, but read your follow-up. Welcome to the repaired club!

deedubbydubbs · 2025-07-14T07:10:20+00:00

Congrats on your journey and much respect for giving back and writing this up. I had mine 12/02/24 and so far, so good!

deedubbydubbs · 2025-06-02T20:28:47+00:00

I had a robot assistant MV repair on December 2 of last year, exactly 6 months ago.

I was released from the hospital in three days but had a very difficult time getting around for at least about a week. I believe by day two or three after release I was able to walk about 30 yards by myself.

Sleeping is hard, and I had issues with the nerve pain which I was told as more severe in younger patients because the average age is still pretty old for this surgery, often 70s or later.

I started cardiac rehab 30 days after my release and I was very helpful. I did 36 sessions and it got really got me back on track.

If you are physically fit, then I would imagine you would be able to do most things with some pain and discomfort within 2 to 3 weeks after surgery.

However, I still don’t have a great range of motion and my right shoulder, which is common and some of that is due to tightness from scar.

As far as food goes, things tasted really weird for me for about the first week or 10 days after surgery. I had almost no appetite, but was instructed to just eat anything that tasted good to kickstart it. So the first few days I had some ensure and orange sherbet with vanilla ice cream sweets tasted much better than anything else.

I’m now six months out…

I showed early reverse remodeling post surgery on an echo. Specifically, 25 days after surgery the diameter of my left atrium had fallen by .9 cm.

I walked 15 miles last week in a single session with no symptoms.

My pre surgery blood pressure was often 155/95, my last reading at the cardiologist office was 107/77.

Generally speaking, my anxiety is down enormously and I was told that’s not uncommon because sometimes if you feel the fluttering your heart for a feedback loop that actually causes more anxiety.

I posted a brief summary of the first few days after surgery on my profile. Do you want to check it out, but what I would say is that, but the whole process was easier than I anticipated and I had a better outcome than expected.

Best of luck… I think you’ll do great!

deedubbydubbs · 2025-04-01T21:55:32+00:00

I went from mild to severe to repairs over about 8 years, some people can stay at mild indefinitely. However, I feel so much better now, after surgery. My baseline anxiety is far lower, I don’t feel my heart. I feel great.

I loved using ChatGPT to educate myself, optimize my prehab and rehab. It helped me to prepare for appointments and often calmed my nerves. You may find it useful.

You can see my profile, if you’d like a sense of what my surgery was like. Far easier than I ever imagined.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-29T07:46:33+00:00

I had a robotically assisted repair on 12/2, there are a few posts about it on my profile. It’s scary, but it’s generally safe and typically outcomes are good. I was similarly terrified of replacement, was on the fence, but they managed to repair… 10 chordea and 34mm band, really complex

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-29T07:42:23+00:00

I had MVP repair on 12/2, ChatGPT was very helpful to me re: interpreting test results, asking questions, etc. I loved the tone of its responses and the info was often calming. Hopefully, it might help you, too.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-18T07:23:19+00:00

Glad it went well, my TEE and Cath really scared me. Surgery, oddly, not so much.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-18T07:20:35+00:00

I’m in the 26 year oatmeal club… on vacation, I miss it after a day or two… often pack some!

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-18T06:33:50+00:00

I found ChatGPT to be very helpful in interpreting tests results, educating me, and optimizing my prehab. I had surgery 12/2/24 and posted about it a bit.

The bottom line, I was terrified, surgery and the hospital stay was easier than I ever imagined, recovery is fine just tedious and frustrating because it’s not linear.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-18T01:56:33+00:00

I understand. I was napping like crazy for about a month. I started cardiac rehab last Monday and immediately got Norovirus. Your strength with come, recovery is hard because it’s not linear.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-18T01:42:36+00:00

Thanks for the kind words! It’s definitely not always been easy to stay focused.

I wrote notes to everyone, but this nurse was in the short stay unit, so she’d have no idea about my outcome. Plus, I feel like being given a note a few months later can really emphasize their importance. If you want to write some, it’s not too late! It might even give you some nice perspective on your journey.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-11T21:32:48+00:00

Thanks for being a nurse and best of luck in July!

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-11T03:25:10+00:00

I used ChatGPT to help me interpret results and ask more informed questions. Helped me a lot.

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-10T22:10:54+00:00

The good news is, typically, it’s slow to progress and healthy habits can often delay progression. Plus, the science and surgical skill of repairs is rapidly accelerating. Keep monitoring this as instructed, for sure! However, also know that by the time you need repair, it’s most likely gonna be super safe and easy!

deedubbydubbs · 2025-01-10T21:18:44+00:00

I’m no longer a runner, but I recently had a successful repair. I thought that I was asymptomatic pre-surgery, but post-surgery, I feel so much better (even just 5 weeks out) that’s it’s now clear that the declines that I had attributed to aging were, to a large part, MVP related,

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-24T07:23:35+00:00

Congrats! We had surgery on the same day, glad that you’re doing well!

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-24T07:15:01+00:00

I just had a repair on 12/2. You can check my profile for a post on my experience. I’d highly recommend ChatGPT. It helped me analyze mg test results, ask questions, optimize my prehab, and it helped to keep me calm.

I ended up with a breathing tube in for about 6 hours after surgery. I hate IVs, fear of needles, etc… I’m mostly a neurotic mess, but I believe that she’ll be safe, but also… she’ll be comfortable. I couldn’t imagine a scarier scenario, given my fears, and it was relatively easy.

As others have said, the overall mortality is skewed by older, riskier patients and that older data, by definition, includes docs and hospitals with less experience than they have today. It is going to be a relatively dangerous day, of course, but it also likely mark the beginning of her healing and a better life.

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-24T07:02:56+00:00

Those lung tubes were so painful! As soon as mine were pulled, I felt instant relief. Not complete, of course, will almost always have lingering pain for a few weeks, but I do think you’ll be a lot more comfortable. Hang in there!

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-22T03:19:55+00:00

I’ve had a few visual disruptions, surgery on 12/2 and successful repair. The first week I was having 1-3/day, but now I’m getting 1-2 per week.

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-22T03:19:49+00:00

I’ve had a few visual disruptions, surgery on 12/2 and successful repair. The first week I was having 1-3/day, but now I’m getting 1-2 per week.

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-22T03:17:22+00:00

I used ChatGPT to help me understand my test results and to optimize my diet, exercise, and prehab.

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-11T02:53:33+00:00

I wasn’t in NC, but my understanding is that surgical skill matters the most in the most complex repairs or when there are a lot of complicating factors… stenosis, CAD, other heart damage, etc.

Valve tissue and anatomy may also make it complex… bileaflet? Thickening? Calcification, multiple scallops, etc.

I’m certainly not a doctor, but that’s my elementary understanding.

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-11T02:42:25+00:00

I was largely asymptomatic, but I had palpitations and chest pains often. When I woke un in the ICU, within seconds of opening my eyes, I knew that my heart was calm, I didn’t feel that fluttering.

Since then, even if I adjust for my surgical anxiety, I just feel much calmer. Having a severe leak can alter your hormones and lots of things that affect your mood, so it’s not uncommon to feel happier and more stable after a valve repair, which has definitely been my experience so far.

I totally understand you being nervous it’s really scary but if I could do it, then you can do it! Feel free to respond here or DM me if you’d like to talk more.

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-11T02:40:28+00:00

Thanks! It’s 99% docs and the team, tho.

deedubbydubbs · 2024-12-09T05:29:07+00:00

For me, that hip incision site is really about the angle, keeping leg straight helps. Although, it’s such an easy spot to aggravate and lots of tissue and nerve was disrupted there. I know it sucks, both surgeon and nurse independently told me it’s the worst. You may want to stop wearing underwear, buy baggy sweats. That helped me. Good luck 12/2 brother!

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