Discharged after tissue valve replacement ❤

[Lisp27]

I'm pleased to say that I was sucessfully discharged from hospital just over a week a go after having a tissue value replacement.

I have had my drain stitches removed by my local nurse at the GP surgery. Worringly, there wasn't any record of my op in my notes. But I assume the hospital has yet to send through my notes, it being so soon.

But what next?

When will my follow up be with the hospital and cardiologist? Do I wait to hear from the team? Thank you 😊

[Jamse]

I had a tissue graft 15 years ago they did an echo every 6 months on it but now once a year

[Nic25]

Hey Lisp27. Congratulations and glad you're home and can now focus on recovery. The NHS isn't great at communicating I found - my hospital (London) and GP (south coast) didn't really communicate at all. But generally you should expect a follow-up appointment with the surgical team about 6-8 weeks post-op and then one with your cardiologist after that. For eg I had my op mid-Dec, got signed off by surgical team mid-Feb and then saw the cardiologist in April.

Another suggestion, if you can, look to sign up to your local cardiac rehabilitation programme (though obviously wait a few weeks yet!). I personally found it very helpful in terms of kickstarting getting me back on my feet physically. But (from memory) I didn't start that until about March so take your time to recover. I also had to be quite proactive to get on the programme - googling and contacting the nurses directly - as, again, neither side really communicated with the other to set it up.

But good luck with the recovery. Take it slow and listen to your body. For me the main thing was a fog of tiredness for the first six weeks or so, so you just have to roll with it really. Your body has taken a battering and so things may take time to recover. But hope you're on an upwards curve from hereon in.

Well done!

Nic x