Anyone facing a major medical procedure has questions. It is a smart idea to get them answered before the process so that you will be informed and not quite as frightened about what’s going to occur. If you’re going to have heart valve replacement, you must ask your doctor for all of the particulars about what is going to occur before, during, and after the op so you can prepare yourself and know what can be expected.
Before your heart valve replacement, you will get linked up to an IV, and you will have to get rid of any jewellery, glasses, dentures, contacts, and hearing aids. Essentially, anything that you are wearing that can be removed. The anesthesiologist and the doctor will talk to you about what is going to happen, and you will be given a sedative.
See also : mitral valve prolapse
In the op, you will be anesthetized. You will be connected up to a heart lung machine which will take over for these organs so that the doctor can perform the heart valve replacement using either a mechanical or tissue valve. To do this they will have to chop open your sternum to access your heart. Once the old valve is removed and the new one sewn in, they’ll unhook you from deep inside lung machine and launch your own heart up again. Your breastbone will be wired back together and your incision will be stitched up.
When you wake up from your heart valve replacement surgery, you will be hitched up to all kinds of tubes and wires, including one down your throat to help you breath, a catheter, an IV for medicine, and tubes near your heart to cut back the fluids from this area that are left over from the surgery. Once you are awake and ready to breathe on your own the tube down your throat will be removed, and the others will be removed as you improve. You should expect to spend a couple days in the ICU, and then more time in a cardiac surgical floor till you are recovered enough to come home. However, even if you come home you will still not be back to your old self. This will take approximately 6 to 8 weeks of gradual healing. You will still be on medication as well you need to take, and you will need to visit the doctor from time to time for monitoring of your condition.
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