Post op = Mitral valve repair + ablation, issues

[kiwilondon99]

Have had a mtiral valve repair - and ablation - 3 weeks ago with keyhole surgery

3 issues:

A] awoke one morning whilst still in hospital with sore shoulder and restricted shoulder/arm movement. Still finding it -post op + @ home - difficult to use the shoulder/rotater cuff.

Is this a normal reatcion to surgery + what do people do normalise/correct/fix

B] had an inr - now at the highest ever, which docs seems pleased!!

downside blood seems to be like tar to extract, rather than very fluid flow like pre op. Is this an issue??

C] external rehab - not mentioned when discharged from hospital - is there a standard or program. Did speak with the receptionists in the hospital physio dept but they were 'unable to assist!' What are post op rehab options?

thoughts & comments appreciated

[MRSLADP]

I'm not sure if the same is available for keyhole repair, but if you ring your local cardiac rehabilitation programme, they should be able to tell you if you've been referred. If not, try going back to the ward that you were on - the sisters actually do the referring per the surgeon's orders. I'm 11 weeks post op for a MV replacement and my upper body still hurts. I think that just a muscle issue, keyhole or otherwise.

[Paul101]

Can't comment on the first two points but on the third I can add something. First, my impression is that every area across the UK is different. For myself, I was told beforehand that there would be external rehab but discovered that procedures changed the first weekend I was recovering :-). This left me in much the same as your position - we had to dig hard to find out what could be done. The best I could find was a charity running a "Rest of Life" programme. They are good - I get about an hour of gym every week that is as demanding as I want to make it. So, for what it is worth, my advice is ask around as much as possible, ring the cardiac team at the hospital for possible sources of rehab, be prepared to spend a little on getting what you need, don't be put off by the difficulty of finding help.