Mitral Valve Repair
Whether you need your mitral valve repaired or replaced, or you know someone who does, this website will help you find the information you need to better understand heart valve disease and heart valve surgery. My name is Christine Marie and in 2010 I had my mitral valve repaired.
I created this website and accompanying ebook (forthcoming) to document my journey and help others through theirs. My hope is that you’ll become more informed about your heart surgery by using the information here at this website.
Knowledge is power, and the more answers to your questions you have about your heart, the better you’ll be prepared for your journey, which will help reduce any stress, confusion or fear you might be experiencing along the way.
You’re Not Alone
Know that you are not alone and that many people have been through some sort of heart valve surgery. One of the first questions you might be silently asking is, “Why me?”. Sitting in the doctor’s office discovering you have heart disease can be a traumatic and scary experience. Many heart valve patients have the same questions and concerns you do and we’ll discover those here and answer them as well.
Knowing who will be your patient advocate before, during and after surgery will also make this time less stressful. A patient advocate can be a family member or a close friend. A patient advocate will be someone or someones, who can be there for you through your journey. They will help you make decisions when you need another voice or opinion, they will also be able to make decisions for you when you’re not able to.
At Mitral-Valve-Repair.com, we’ve setup categories to make it easy for you to find whatever heart help you’re looking for, whether you want to know more about heart disease in general, knowing how to prepare for surgery, going through surgery, or your hospital stay and recovery journey.
You’ll learn the symptoms that are typical of heart valve disease. You’ll also learn the differences between valve repair and valve replacement. We’ll discuss the medications that can help you with your specific disease and that can help you with your recovery after your surgery.
Healthcare Professionals
After being diagnosed, you might need to make some decisions about how to fix your heart disease. There can be more than one way to treat your heart disease. Not every cardiologist or heart surgeon will treat it with the same procedures and techniques. We’ll walk through some scenarios that will help you become more informed about treatments available.
When it comes to hospitals and heart surgeons, not all are the same. As a heart surgery patient, you need to consider how heart surgeons perform their repairs and replacements. Consider too, how the hospital provides care during your stay. Asking the right questions about your hospital stay can help you better understand what to expect during your recovery in the hospital.
Fixing your heart isn’t just about surgery, there’s a rehab program waiting for you after surgery to keep you moving and improving the health of your heart. There will be rehab professionals ready to assist you and monitor how you’re doing during your rehab. I also share with you some incidents I encountered during the first few weeks at home that brought me back to the emergency room twice within 60 days after surgery.
My Story
I’ve written an ebook (forthcoming) that talks about the journey I went through with my mitral valve repair. The ebook includes discovering that my valve needed repairing, what I did leading up to my valve surgery, my hospital stay, rehab, some surprises that I ran into, and what landed me in the emergency room twice in 60 days after my surgery, and much more. I also discuss how much my mitral valve repair surgery cost.
The ebook includes sections on my story, decisions I had to make and how I went about making them, as well as others who played a vital role in helping me make the best decisions. The ebook is packed with information about what you might experience during your hospital stay, tasks that you can do before, during and after your surgery that will help you along the way.
Please feel free to contact me using the Contact page. I will check and answer your emails routinely within 24 hours. I look forward to helping you get through this time and wish you all the best in your journey.
Christine
- What symptoms and diagnosis led up to my journey
- What type of surgery choices you might have
- How I prepared for surgery and what you can do to prepare for yours
- Details of my hospital stay and how you can make the best of yours
- What brought me back to the emergency room after surgery and other surprises
- More help, tips and resources you can use for your journey
Comments...read them below or add one
Thank you for the heart information here. The heart diagrams help a lot too. This is a great site that helps heart surgery patients like myself gain perspective from someone who’s been through it.
@Sara: Thanks so much. I’m glad the information is helpful to you.
Hi, I was diagnosed with a valve issue. My family doctor sent me to the hospital to get an echo and then to a cardiologist so the cardiologist could interpret the echo and tell me what I have. The cardiologist said she thinks I probably can have the valve repaired and not replaced. She said it would be up to the heart surgeon. So what determines whether you have a valve repair or a valve replacement? Thanks.
@Tiffany: Thanks for stoppin’ by Tiffany. I can answer that as it pertains to me. After meeting with all the doctors and hearing their opinion, the surgeon(s) that I met had the final outcome for me as being 90% sure I needed a repair. But, they reserved 10% to change their mind when they were actually doing the surgery.
With all the data and images they acquire while diagnosing you, I would imagine most surgeons reserve a percentage to change their mind. You never know what they are going to encounter when they actually get in there. I hope this helps and I hope the best for you.
I too found out I needed mitral valve surgery. Right now, they don’t know 100% if they can repair it or if they have to replace it. It sounds like there are different types of replacement valves available. What types of valves do they use for replacements? I’ve heard a bit about mechanical valves or pig valves and some others. Thanks.