mitral valve replacement and double by pass

There are a lot of YouTube videos that should give you a good idea if you search.I watched several. Did the surgeon not discuss it with you or have you yet to see him? At the pre op assessment the cardiology nurse/sister also went through it with me and gave me a booklet on the procedure and the recovery procedures. I had my aortic valve replaced three years ago.

I went into hospital on the Monday and had the operation the next afternoon. Mine took over five hours but yours will be longer. I came round in intensive care around 7.30 PM and felt fine and no pain as I probably had morphine in my drip. You have tubes sticking out of many parts of you and you have a nurse to yourself until you are transferred back to a ward. I was surprised how clear my head was and was deliberately testing my memory as some people are a bit fuddled afterwards.

Next day on many drugs but just paracetamol needed for a painkiller. Had some breakfast and helped out of bed to sit in a chair, Transferred to the main ward and later walked to the bathroom for a much needed wash.

Following day hauled out of bed by two physio's and walked down a long corridor and allowed to sit down before being helped up two flights of stairs with a rest on each landing before the return journey and gladly collapsing on my bed with much heavy breathing for half an hour.

After that gradually walking around a bit more each day. The record when I was there was a patient operated on the same day as me going home on the Sunday.

I was there until the following Friday as I had fluid on a lung that had to be drained and I also went into atrial fibrillation and had to have a cardioversion that failed. I later had another three months later that put me back in sinus rhythm. The chances of going into it was something that I had missed in my research. It happens to about a third of patients but most go back into sinus rhythm of their own accord within a few days.

Complete recovery takes about three months starting with two short walks a day and gradually building up. They will also enroll you in cardio rehab classes. At the end of three months I was out and about as normal and I was 76 at the time. My 83 year old neighbour had a quad bypass and aortic valve replacement just before me and his recovery was fairly similar and he lived in a second floor flat without a lift. We have a lift but I usually walked up the first two flights.

Some who had bypass surgery had problems with leg wounds where veins had been taken from.

Hi I had a 3 way by pass arrived at Broad Green Liverpool thur afternoon had op next day. It was only monday I could remember things properly,  tue had wash etc I was 53 very young to have this type of op surgeon said. He also said I may need another op in 10 years time,  2 more years to go, hope not. ALL this op in NOT painful, the nurses are fab. ALL the best.

i agree with derek76. i have been told that in icu I kept asking what the big white thing was and each time they told me it was the fridge. I must have been very out of it as i dont remember at all. First shower after the op was heaven on earth. Only pain i had was when i had to sit up so my husband hired a recliner chair with automatic control and i slept in that for about a month when i got out of hospital. Other painful thing was that my back hurt for about two weeks which according to the surgeon was from being on a hard operating surface  for a couple of hours. Wish i had known that before i had the op so i could ask my husband to rub my back when i was in icu as i couldnt put two words together to tell him. As derek 76 said, recovery about 3 months. i knew when i was getting better because i suddenly realised that Foxtel was rubbish and i had been glued to it all day before watching crime tv and the like. I am now 10 years down the track without problems of any kind. I am now 62.

Had quadruple bypass op a year ago after angina became unstable and angiogram showed need. It has taken me a year to get where I am and that is 90% of my pre-angina status. The worst was the leg wound which took long time to heal and now the leg is permanantly slightly enlarged compared to the other leg which had no donor vein removed. I wear compression stocking most days which helps and try to walk at least 1 km per day. I still get postural hypo tension which kept me in the hosp for 10 days and my recovery was quite slow compared to some other comments. (although managed a holiday to see our family in Cyprus last September with no problems and again a flight to E Europe last month). Sometimes get out of breath if I start off too quickly as one of the tablets I take keep my heart rate down and it takes time to catch up with the needs of exerciseing. I keep forgetting to start slowly! Anyway now past 70 so no complaints..  The surgeons do a good job. So sit back and try to relax.