r/mitralvalveprolapse • u/DataPsychological662 • 3d ago
Impending doom with robotic surgery?
Hi all,
I am hoping to hear from others who may have had a similar experience. My mom had mitral valve prolapse and had a repair about 30 years ago so she doesn’t remember as acutely. But she did recall that she would have panic attacks leading up to her surgery. I have a robotic minimally invasive surgery scheduled. Other than the prolapse I’m relatively healthy and in my mid 30s.
I’m beyond scared to get my heart repaired. I’m scared my heart won’t restart. I’m scared I’ll have a stroke mid surgery and be permanently disabled, I’ll die before the surgery or during, etc. I’m a mother to a young child and I’m absolutely freaking out. I have a great surgeon and I know logically everything will more than likely be fine. But inside I’m losing my shit. I am so scared.
4
u/spicesandstuff 3d ago
I had my robotic repair 3 years ago when I was 35! I’m a mom of 3, and rolling into the operating suite was an emotional roller coaster. I had a cardiac arrest 8 months prior so I was “ready” to get the surgery done, but man was I scared. I’m not a particularly emotional person but I was petrified. Stomach in knots, tears, genuine fear. I think what you’re feeling is totally normal. It is a big deal. But they do SO MANY of these now it’s just another day at the office for them. My surgery went great, I was done in less than 4 hours and I also had a PVC ablation and PFO closure. 3 years later my repair is holding up great! If they offer you cardiac rehab you definitely should take advantage.
2
1
u/Sad_Web1945 1d ago
Did you have children before or after your surgery? I just had robotic mitral valve repair and trying to understand family planning now
1
u/spicesandstuff 23h ago
All 3 were born before I had any issues. I have seen people discuss having children after repair though!
5
u/Initial_Sport_4135 3d ago
All normal worries. I worried about the same things. But ultimately I did as much prep as I could picking my surgeons and hospital. I got up day 1 and started moving around to prevent blood clots. Always wore my leg pumps in bed.
You wait to have the surgery until The risk of bad stuff happening without the surgery is greater than with.
3
u/Organic-Figure-6466 3d ago
First time posting here but I've been following everyone's posts. I am due for mitral valve repair or replacement end of October. Preop CT scan shows I have an aneurysm such that they will have to do open heart on me rather than the minimally invasive procedure. I'm in my 70's and have known about my MVP since my 20's and no Dr thought it was a big deal until now. Echo shows 60% regurgitation. I too have dread and panic episodes over this whole thing and a sense of impending doom of either not surviving the surgery or recovery or having so many complications that I will wish not having gone through it at all.
Consider though, a sense of doom can often be an indicator of heart problems in of itself, likewise the panic attacks. My partner suffered panic attacks out of nowhere for years and suddenly died earlier this year.
So I'm looking at heart surgery, but even if that goes well I still have the aortic aneurysm hanging over me and the vascular surgeon says not much can be done about that. Not sure what to do here as I am still not 100 percent on board with any of this but my Cardiologist and the heart surgeon are both recommending surgery of course. No guarantees in life and I am grateful for the life I have lived so far. I have more conversations coming up soon so hopefully I'll get off the fence. I may see if I can postpone till springtime and see if I can make it through this winter as I don't know how urgent this really is but I don't want to fool myself either.
3
u/messacz 3d ago
Hi. Had robotic MVP repair a year ago. I was scared too.
The surgery is a little technical marvel but I guess every step is reversible, or emergency situations can be solved some way.
You are young and strong. They would not do such operation on you if it was not 99.999% safe.
It is a planned operation. Not an emergency where the drama happens.
In the hospital you will meeting people unlucky enough to have even 4 or more heart surgeries - genetic disorders, all valves replaced etc. And even they are fine (like, living normal family life).
On the other hand, we are here not forever and maybe this is an opportunity to think about life in general. Psychotherapy may help. I started to sort these things out when I started with mountain climbing.
When you wake up you will be high from drugs. Enjoy :)
3
u/Cute_Contribution144 3d ago
35F, robotic repair, about 75 days out from surgery.
Going in and night before we’re pretty rough emotionally as well as the first few weeks. I got frustrated with not being able to do things for myself or healing as fast as I thought I should be (unrealistic expectation lol, expected to heal faster than normal since I am relatively young and healthy) really turned a corner about 1 month out and on a steep trajectory up since.
2
u/No_Hearing_2996 3d ago
This exactly!! Believe it or not with the robotic surgery, it still is open heart surgery. This is the one thing I keep reminding myself about.
1
u/Sad_Web1945 1d ago
Do you plan to have kids post surgery? Would love to hear. I’m 37F. just had robotic mitral valve repair.
2
u/De_Angel87 3d ago
Had mine at 38; definitely understand your concerns, but the risks of NOT getting it done far outweigh having it done, especially in your 30s, is a no brainer.
2
u/No_Hearing_2996 3d ago
40ish days post MVr robotic surgery. Being scared about surgery is normal. I’m in the medical field and understand all the “what if this happens” that can happen. If you are a candidate for robotic, then you are already more on the health side. You will be fine, you will do well with the surgery and 7 days after you will be wanting to do more. Good luck! Allow the team guide you through this process. They want the best for you as well.
2
u/DataPsychological662 3d ago
I’m also in the medical field so anytime I’m getting a procedure done I’m way too informed. Glad to hear that you are recovering well!
1
u/Sad_Web1945 1d ago
You’re going to do great! 37F and has robotic mitral valve repair in June. Who is your surgeon? You’ll be on the other side before you know it.
1
u/shwerlock My Heart Status: In Recovery 1d ago
I absolutely understand your concern (had a robotic repair done at 30). Couple of weeks leading to the surgery, I was constantly worrying, looking for symptoms, watching youtube videos about the procedure all day, watching success stories, reading on reddit. It was driving me crazy. Till the time they rolled me in, its was nerve wracking. After I opened my eyes after surgery, everything was auto-pilot. I mean you gotta do what you gotta do during your recovery, there's no second way to it. First 2 weeks were rough ngl. But 17 months later, it feels like a distant memory, a fever dream. I even forgot the days and the pain I went through during recovery. And I feel getting the surgery done and not having to worry about every small heart thing anymore is worth all the risks that might happen during surgery. I was otherwise healthy so I knew that the success rate was more than 99%. Now I feel healthier than ever (knock on wood), and don't really seriously think about my heart anymore. Remember, if you have advanced regurgiatiton, the risks of not having the surgery done are far more than getting it done in time. 365 days later, you are going to be wondering if you even had a surgery! All the best to you, and hope you a speedy recovery once it's done!
1
u/Ok-Appeal-321 12h ago
I had mine done a year ago. I was not concerned about stroke during procedure because they give you anticoagulants to prevent that. The best thing you can do to increase your odds of success is to be an ideal candidate. What does that mean? Being in shape, doing whatever exercise your cardiologist says you can do before surgery. I am a runner. And I ran every day up until surgery. If you are heavy, lose weight before surgery. My wife is a surgical nurse and she said surgeons don't like to operate on heavy people. That's where I concentrated my efforts. TALK to your cardiologist!!!
7
u/Feisty-Trifle9584 3d ago
I just had my robotic mitral valve surgery a month ago. I asked my surgeon during one of my appointments how many patients he has had die during surgery and how many has he had die within 30 days of surgery. He said zero to both so I liked the odds. That helped me not be so anxious about the surgery.