Mitral Valve Repair Tips

Mentally preparing for your mitral valve repair surgery can be taxing. The very thought of mitral valve repair surgery whether it be a full open heart surgery or a minimally invasive procedure can be scary.

Some of the things you can do to bring peace to your mind is to talk to others that have been through the surgery, ask your surgeon the questions that plague your mind, organize your surgery support group, and also be sure to read The Patients Guide To Heart Valve Surgery.

Reading this book, did more to relieve my stress about my own heart valve repair surgery than any other thing I did. It is written in plain English by a former heart valve replacement surgery patient.

It's been only two months since my open heart mitral valve repair surgery. I'm going to rehab three times per week, and now doing sixty minutes of cardiovascular exercise. I have an opportunity in rehab to talk to lots of heart attack, heart valve repair and replacement, and bypass patients.

Six weeks is about the shortest recovery period I've heard mentioned for heart valve repair and some folks say that it's been two years. I think it depends on the person, everyone is different, but I do know that a good rehabilitation facility works wonders.

At first, you're usually on oxygen, and can hardly walk, much less walk on a treadmill, but that all changes very shortly. Within just a few short weeks, you'll probably get off the oxygen and you'll be buzzing away on the treadmill and the other machines.

A good cardiac rehabilitation program will insure that you have the quickest and easiest recovery from your mitral valve repair surgery.

Ask your heart surgeon to recommend one for you. She will know the best ones in your particular area. The outstanding rehab facilities will have special programs for heart patients.

First you will be seen by cardiac rehabilitation doctor, then you be assessed by an exercise physiologist, then you will be given an exercise program designed specifically for you.

The entire time you are exercising, you heart will be monitored. If the monitor indicates that your heart is acting up, the exercise physiologist will come an talk to you and you may be asked stop exercising for the day.

No doubt about it, you'll need to have a person or a group of people who will be responsible for your care when you come home from the hospital after your mitral valve repair surgery.

They will cook, dispense your medicine, help with your oxygen, help you get in and out of bed, and a gazillion other tasks that you won't easily be able to do for yourself.

The thing that I found to be the most difficult after my open heart surgery, was getting on and off the toilet. Since this is a rather private matter, I didn't want anyone in the bathroom with me. It was also extremely difficult to bend down or reach up to get things. Forget reaching to a back shelf in the refrigerator to retrieve a needed item, I'd rather starve.