hi. I was talking to a nurse from the bhf recently. She was experienced and said she helped many people before during and after surgery.
One thing I was surprised about, she said that’s it’s better to have a valve replacement than a repair!
To me, a replacement makes the procedure sound much more extensive and exhausting than it needs to be.
You sure she was talking about mitral valves? It’s my understanding that replacement of the aortic valve is standard procedure, but that repair of the mitral is preferred (when possible).
I had mine repaired and was told it was the preferred procedure if that's what they were able to do. My mitral valve was in a bad way but surgeon still did a repair rather than replacement xx
Some mitral valves are not reparable so have to be replaced – as was the case with me. My op. was done with minimal intervention (i.e not full chest sternotomy) so not too bad.
How are you feeling now? Ok I hope🙂
I am ok thank you. I have heart failure but the repaired valve at my last check up was working perfectly and doing it's job. I regularly exercise, have a very healthy diet and generally keep very well👍x
Glad to hear. Do you find it ok to exercise? I was recently diagnosed with moderate mitral valve regurgitation and I’ve tried to eat healthy and exercise, but I seem to get a discomfort in my chest- not constantly, but like needles pricking me under the skin. It only lasts for a few seconds. Did you ever experience this?
I became poorly very quickly with mine and until I found out I was still exercising regularly but put symptoms down to low functioning thyroid....little did I know!. My regurgitation was severe and was told then only to walk as exercise. Mine was all made even worse also due to 9 months of waiting for op and cancellations. I would say ask your gp regarding exercise. I now use light resistance machines at the gym but do exercise at home. I never over stretch myself as I have heart failure but do enough to get slightly breathless. Also do a fair bit of walking . I think after guidance from gp just listen to your body and if in doubt...leave it out! Xx
Yeah positive. Spoke to her for a fair while asking her the same questions. Only after doing a bit of research on here that suggests repair is the first option.
I just undergone a CABG x 3 however I was told before the operation that I may need a mitral valve replaced but they would prefer to repair it if an option, if it needed replacing it would be mechanical and that I would be on warfarin for the rest of my life but until they operated they wouldn’t know.
Thankfully they managed to repair it and are happy with the results it has caused an AF and I’m on Apaxiaban another blood thinner but doesn’t have to be monitored, I will be checked 3 months after the op and if the AF has righted itself taken off the med,
Hi, I can only speak from my experience. My regurgitation was caused by having Rheumatic fever as a child which meant the leaflet was bent and would not close properly and after weighing up the options it was decided replacement was best. I was told they could have tried the repair but it may not have lasted so in the long term replacement was the way forward. I had it about 14 weeks ago and am pleased to say I am up to walking 2 and a half to 3 miles every day. Yes, the recovery can be slow (I also had pacemaker fitted a couple of weeks later) but the support I have received from my consultant, hospital staff, the cardiac nurses and my doctor has been amazing. I know it's a scary time for you but maybe when you see your consultant you can ask why they think replacement might be the way forward. Wishing you lots of good luck for the future. Take care
I imagine that there is no standard response as this will depend on personal circumstances but my consultant also said that mitral valve repair gives a much better long term outcome. I went into surgery knowing that the aim was to repair but signed to agree to replacement if repair wasn’t viable. I’m sure that this may be different for some patients.
Hi can anyone tell me how long it takes for a mitral valve to become severe. I have a moderate mitral valve prolapse and am being monitored. I was diagnosed a year ago...
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