recovery from aortic valve replacement

[MontyReynolds]

I want to find out about recovery after aortic valve replacement surgery. If you can share your experience, that would be great. After being released from the hospital, how often did you have physiotherapy sessions and did you have a follow up session with the surgeon? What were some of the things you were restricted from or had trouble doing after you went home? How long before you got back to "normal". Any information would be very helpful. Thank you. Monty.

[080311]

Morning,

I had my Aortic valve replaced and bypass done 5 years ago so before the pandemic.

After surgery you will be given breathing exercises and a coughing one by the physios. Keep doing these when you get home your lungs take a hit along with your heart they collapse when we are on bypass so all those little pockets need filling up again. It takes 8-10 weeks for the sternum to heal, so no arms above your head no lifting anything heavier than half a kettle of water, no pushing or pulling movements. You should see your surgeon 6 weeks after your op all being well you will be discharged back to your cardiologist. I saw him 6 months later and discharged back to my GP.

Cardio rehab, mine started about 6 weeks after surgery it was twice a week for 10 weeks. This was at the local hospital, I found it great as much for my mental health as for getting my stamina back. Being around people who had been through the same experiences as myself was such a help, you could say I have this and someone would say me too! You didn’t feel like the only person in the world that had had those feelings.Then sent to the local gym for 3 months of cardio once a week.

Can I just say, it’s not as bad as your imagination is making it, your medical team are going to be the best there are, remember they do this as their day job.

I thank my medical team every day for giving me my life back.

Wishing you a great recovery.

Best wishes Pauline

[MontyReynolds in reply to 080311]

Thanks for the information Pauline.

[andy110519]

Hi, I had OHS for AVR in May'19. I was a fairly fit 49, wasn't aware I had a dodgy valve, & I guess you'd call it emergency surgery a week after a cardiac arrest so no research done etc.I was pleasantly surprised how I felt after the surgery, I think I had more pain from the CPR. I was home within a week of surgery and then began the slow recovery.

I was out walking everyday working up the distance from a very slow 100 metres the first day. I would say take it easy & listen to your body. I think my first rehab session was about 6 weeks by which time I could walk 1/2 km at a reasonable pace. My rehab sessions were one to one and I only had 2 or 3. It was chat about how I was doing & advice about how to proceed, I could have had more but we were both happy with my progress.

Lifting putting any strain thru the chest are big nos. I had to borrow a comfy chair I could get out of easily, the settee was too low & I had a webbing strap attached to the end of the bed so I could pull on that to get up rather push down behind me.

I saw a surgeon at about 8 weeks at which point I was told I could drive again 😁 & saw the cardiologist at 8 months when I was discharged from their care.

I had kept up my exercising etc and completed my first 5k run about April'20 & finally returned to my local Parkrun a few weeks ago with a personal best time, that's where it all kicked off!

I guess I'm about 95% back to normal, my chest isn't quite as strong as it used to be but OK for day to day stuff but on the plus side I can run faster!

The op is not as bad as you are thinking, take it easy afterwards, at times you will feel like doing nothing. I couldn't concentrate long enough to watch anything more than about 1/2 hour so you may feel like you are useless for a while but this was short term for me.

Good luck.

Andy

[MontyReynolds in reply to andy110519]

Thanks for the information Andy. I guess recovery does take a bit of time. But good to hear you are getting back to normal. Monty

[Coper10]

Hello, my AVR was 6 months ago. My follow up with surgeon was a telephone call at 7 or 8 weeks. I had a CT scan to make sure all was stable in my heart (as well as valve I had my aortic root and ascending aorta replaced. I will have an annual scan. Cardiac rehab consisted of a Teams assessment call, then a phone call every few weeks 🙁. I did need to motivate myself. I was told to walk every day for 10 mins the 1st week and then add 10 mins each week. Sounds such a small amount but you do get very tired. Once I got to an hour, I worked on increasing my pace or gradient. I got to the point I felt able to do a slow jog for a bit so now alternate between fast walk/ jog and do nearly 6km in 50mins. I did get sent a few links to rehab videos and try to do those on days when I don't manage to walk/run. I had 3 months off work after my op then 6 weeks phased return. I do still get very tired so have just negotiated dropping to 4 days a week on a temporary basis while I'm getting my stamina back. The fact it was a new job when I became poorly means it's probably more tiring as there's lots of new information to take in. I've recently got back on my bike to try and been for a swim. I feel fairly fit and want to keep it up. When I think how how restricted it was at the start, I feel like I've come such a long way. I'm sure you will too. I hope that helps 🙂

[MontyReynolds in reply to Coper10]

HI Coper10, the information was very helpful and it sounds like you doing well. Regards, Monty

[Zindolo]

I'm 58 and had a calcified bicuspid heart valve. I was pretty shocked when the cardiologist told me the only fix was open heart surgery. At first I said "No WAY!" but after a month of contemplation I decided I might as well do it while it was being offered. I'm in Austin TX, and the health care system in this country is completely bonkers. Also, I did a little research online and discovered that nowadays they can do less invasive procedures, so my sternum was only cut half-way down. Somehow that seemed much less unpalatable to me. I had problems with fibrillation and fluid retention so they kept me in the hospital for 10 nights, which was sheer HELL. My biggest worry is that in the USA, medicine is BIG business and I have read more than one book claiming that profit is the number one goal; if it helps the patient that's good too but sometimes things are done that are actually harmful. I could see the claims on my insurance company's website; eventually they added up to about half a million dollars! (Fortunately I only had to pay about $9,000 of that.) Anyhow, I was never in as much pain as I was expecting. I live alone so I couldn't really follow the directions about lifting as I had no choice but to put my groceries away and sometimes they weighed quite a bit. I bought half gallons of milk for a while instead of whole gallons. (I had them delivered for a few weeks.) Also, I only went to two therapy sessions. After the new year I would have had to pay for them and they were billing those at $500 each! All they would do is put me on a treadmill and stationary bicycle for a few minutes while monitoring my heart, so I said "No Thank You!" (I had the operation on Election Day, November 3rd.) My stamina was pretty bad at first but slowly came back. Unfortunately it didn't come back as much as the doctors claimed it would, but then after a few weeks of the diet they recommended I couldn't stand it so started eating more freely. Swimming and bicycling, I'm probably back to about where I was before the operation, but at least now I don't have a calcified bicuspid heart valve and my blood pressure is much better so I guess that's something. I'm told it should last 10 to 20 years so now I'm wondering how I will know when I need to re-do it, if I even choose to do that. I might just live until it wears out and "call it a day".

[MontyReynolds in reply to Zindolo]

Hi Zindolo, thanks for the writing and the information. Regards, Monty.

[Shar28]

Hi, My husband had his AVR 3 years ago. Our local hospital doesn’t offer rehab if you have “only” have a valve replacement by OHS. You need to have bypass surgery at the same time to get that! So my husband just followed the exercises and dos &donts in the booklet the hospital gave him beforehand. Post-op appointment with the surgeon (his Registrar actually) was about 9 weeks after.

At home he used a shower stool and needed help washing his hair at first. It’s really a case of taking things very steady, having good days and low days, doing too much then regretting it, and gradually getting better.

All the best to you and your loved ones.

[MontyReynolds in reply to Shar28]

Thank you for the information Shar28. Regards, Monty.

[HenningLob]

HiMy husband had OHS in 2019 for enlarged aorta and at same time had to have valve replaced and received a mechanical valve. He was a fit 56 year old at the time with no symptoms. The medical team were fantastic and he came home in 10 days. The main thing we were neither of us properly prepared for is how in my husband's case you go in fit and well but of course OHS is major surgery and it will take time to recover properly. My husband did get disheartened when he could only walk for 5 minutes and then felt completely out of breath. I think the main problem was we did not fully appreciate the effect of OHS on your lungs. So be aware that for the first few weeks you do have to accept that you will be slower and it takes time to return to fitness.

I hope all goes well for a speedy recovery.

[MontyReynolds in reply to HenningLob]

Hi HenningLob, thank you so much for the advice. Regards, Monty.