Re Myectomy recovery: good and bad news??

[progers]

Hi guys,

More news on my recovery from the myectomy 2 1/2 weeks ago. The good news is that my energy level seems to be improving - just like you all said it would! Its nowhere near normal yet, but is improving and I've been getting a good night's sleep the last few nights - albeit with the help of sleeping pills! In addition, the depression seems to be abating, so it seems that my deep blues were related to the surgery and by-pass.

The bad news is that I have noticed some SOB this last day or so. I hope I am just imagining it, but it may still be a problem - after all I've been through. I saw the cardiologist at my local hospital for rehab the other day and he surprised me by saying that I still had a slight mitral murmur. I was unaware of this and thought that the surgery would have eliminated it. Afterall, my surgeon told me my gradient had been reduced from over 70 to around 10 at rest.

Does anyone know if this means I still have some residual SAM? If so, is this normal? I know that some of you still have some SOB after your myectomies. Should I be concerned? I'm waiting for my surgeon to call me back so I can get some answers.

Best wishes,

Paul

[Linda]

Paul, it's still very soon after the surgery and you will have your ups and downs. Make sure your doctor understands and hears you about any sypmtoms you are having. Hope to hear continuing good and uncomplicated reports from you - Linda

[Pam Alexson]

Paul, as you heal you will have continued improvements and that 10 may go to zero. I still have a very slight murmur , but barely audible. It would probably even be missed if they were not looking for it. The healing will offer even more settling in of the mitral valve as the tissue shrinks a bit in the healing. Monitor the SOB and keep your doctor appraised of the degree. For yourself , give it a number and check each day to see if it gets better or worse. Do your deep breathing , use your inspirometer if they gave you one from the hospital. If the SOB continues or gets worse, your doc may order a chest x-ray to check on the status of the fluid that often occurs in the peripheral space of the lung post open heart surgery. It can be stubborn and you may have read how some of us had to have it drained.

It is still early for you and your body may well take care of this problem if it is evident. Check your temperature several times a day and keep all this written for your doctor . It is customary to feel somewhat SOB following surgery , this can be because of different factors including a little anemia, and remember , yours has been a complicated recovery.

I am glad other areas are improving for you. It will all come together in time.

Pam

[Ronnie]

Paul-
I second everything Pam said. I could not have said it any better!
I also still have a slight murmur, also sob some days.
Keep Smiling!

[mtlieb]

Re: Re Myectomy recovery: good and bad news??

The bad news is that I have noticed some SOB this last day or so. I hope I am just imagining it, but it may still be a problem - after all I've been through. I saw the cardiologist at my local hospital for rehab the other day and he surprised me by saying that I still had a slight mitral murmur. I was unaware of this and thought that the surgery would have eliminated it. Afterall, my surgeon told me my gradient had been reduced from over 70 to around 10 at rest.

Paul,

If i may be allowed to interject my own two-cents worth here... it is much too early for you to be trying to gauge whether or not your myectomy was successful or not. Even if your gradient is now zero, your heart has suffered an incredible blow from the surgery itself, and naturally you will be experiencing some symptoms that remind you of how things were before. This isn't necessarily because of the obstruction... it's because of the surgery itself.

Please give yourself some time, my friend. It will take many many weeks for you to begin feeling your old self again. But when you do, only then will you realize just how successful your myectomy has been.

Try to think in terms of your overall progress, and don't sweat the little things.

Jim

[progers]

Hi Jim,

Yes, I know you are right. Its very early to gauge how successful my myectomy will be and I am still feeling very wiped out from everything - its only 3 weeks tomorrow since the 2nd surgery. I'm obviously still healing.

Meanwhile, however, I have been having terrible migraines - these have been happening most days since the surgery. I used to get them before the surgery, but never this often. I get the aura, then a terrible headache and then feal yucky all day - which includes feeling like my heart is laboring. Yesterday I was in cardiac rehab when one of these hit. The nurse told me I didn't look so well and suggested that because of all the complications with my surgery, I should go down to the ER to get checked out.

The good news is that they did numerous tests, including an echo which was ordered by my surgeon and all came back well. My hemoglobin is back up in the 140s (up from the 90s when I was in hospital shortly after my transfusion). My lungs are clear according to an Xray. The echo also revealed that my gradient is (as expected) still low and that there is very trivial mitral regurgitation and virtually no SAM (although there is still a very slight dragging of the leaflet, but not enough to cause obstruction).

As some of you know from my other posts, it has been a very very rough recovery for me - much harder than I had ever imagined. I had major complications from surgery and then was absolutely flawed with exhaustion and felt very down. My surgeon mentioned that when he sees myectomy patients after only 4 weeks, most ask themselves why they ever did the surgery in the first place. This is exactly how I feel at present. Next week or the week after, however, I may feel different! I hope to report good news ASAP.

Thanks guys,

Paul

[LynnS]

Hi Paul,

For what it's worth here's what I can share re: migraines post-myectomy.

I suffered from many, many migraines pre-myectomy (aura, headache/feeling bad all day or for a few days afterwards). When I was getting ready to have my myectomy my HCM specialist indicated that I might find a temporary increase in the migraine activity post-surgery. He eluded that he was finding this to be a temporary trend that he was wanting to look into further (research). At the time, he mentioned the potential impact of blood flow changes/interruptions as contributing to the migraines following heart surgery. He also indicated it should be a temporary increase and I will tell you that it was increased temporarily and that now I suffer from them far, far less than pre-myectomy.

All the best,
L

[progers]

Hi Lyn,

I'm really relieved to hear that. I hope that these migraines are just a temporary thing. When did your migraines start subsiding after your surgery? When I have them they are absolutely terrible and seem to bring on many of my old cardiac symptoms. It is so bizare.

As a preventitive measure I sometimes take lots of aspirin. Prior to surgery, if I took aspirin right when I felt a migraine coming on, it would usually be enough to prevent its onset. I tried this yesterday but it didn't work.

Take care,

Paul

[LynnS]

Hey there Paul,

I would say that my migraines decreased measurably after the first weeks post-op...however, since you had complications immediately following I would not be surprised if yours lasted longer (although I certainly hope not).

I do know that my doctor was extremely intent on keeping my migraine pain at the minimum. In fact, while I was in the hospital one hit and as soon as I told the nurses and the doc they were there w/ pain meds to help. You might consider checking in w/ your dr to see if they can advise/assist you on that.

Here's hoping you have an end to them soon,
L

P.S. I might also mention that nowadays I occasionally still have 'occular' migraines the kind in which I receive a bright spot in my vision temporarily (as if a flash from a camera went off) but w/o pain following. I can probably count on one hand the number of full 'auras' I've had since my myectomy recovery and usually I don't have the major headache following. I might have a headache but it's one in which I can still function normally with (although my husband might argue the word 'normal' in relation to me - )

[Burton Borrok]

Howdy,
Let me throw in only one penny this time. I take a full five grain aspirin every day as requested by the doctors when I started with the diabetes along with the cardiac problems. That is, - except when I’m going to have any kind of surgery, - even dental work. (Yes I do take a prophylactic.)

“Because aspirin inhibits the action of blood clotting element (platelets), it is used to reduce the risk of recurrent stroke and near-stroke (transient ischemic attack). It is similarly used to prevent heart attack.”

It is this inhibiting action which a surgeon usually wishes to avoid, and usually instructs me to discontinue taking aspirin five to seven days prior to any surgical procedure. You just went through major surgery – it might pay to check with the surgeon as to when it would be OK to load up an aspirin again.
Burt

[progers]

Burt,

That's a really good point and one I had thought about. I stopped taking aspirin 2 weeks before my surgery, but the surgeon was still surprised by how much I bled.

I will definately contact my surgeon about this.

Cheers,

Paul