Valve Replacement Surgery - 7 Week Follow Up With Cardiologist

It's been seven weeks since my open heart valve repair surgery. Today, I saw Dr. Blake, my cardiologist, for another follow-up appointment. She was very happy with my improvement since she last saw me only a couple of weeks ago.

The fluid in my right lung has finally disappeared, and she felt it was time to decrease the diuretics and also my heart medicine. She cut them both back to almost half what I've been taking. I'm elated to start getting off some of the meds., particularly the diuretics.

Also, Dr. Blake had her staff do a check on my pacemaker and leads, and she ordered a new EKG. She was trying to determine if the atrial lead was sensing properly. It had not been sensing as it should shortly after my valve repair and Maze Procedure surgery. The Maze Procedure is used to eliminate or greatly reduce A-Fib.

Dr. Levy, the heart surgeon, had re-implanted the lead during the open heart surgery in hopes that my heart muscle would grow around it enough for it to begin to sense and capture correctly. He told Dr. Blake that he didn't think the experiment would work, but that it just might, and if it did, it would eliminate another surgery procedure. Interrogation of the pacemaker device showed that indeed the lead was now functioning just as it should.

This was terrific news to both Dr. Blake an myself as this means she will not have to reopen the pacemaker pocket either to re-implant or replace what was a malfunctioning lead, and it also means no more surgery on my heart hopefully for many years to come. The Medtronic technician adjusted the lead down to 70 from of 80.

While interrogating the pacemaker, a strange phenomenon occurred. My chest muscles in and around the device pocket twitched almost constantly. Neither the in-house nor the Medtronic device technician using various interrogation techniques could figure out what was causing the twitching. They told me to watch it and if it started happening at home to call Dr. Blake.

This muscle twitching is somewhat disconcerting to me because that is what was what alerted me to the original lead fracture back in February. The twitching today was not nearly as severe, but it definitely caught my attention. After all that's happened, I want the new pacemaker and leads to work perfectly.

My INR at last check was 2.9, but today it was only 1.7, necessitating an increase in the coumadin. When it was at 2.9, I bruised easily and bled like no tomorrow with just a little prick on the finger.

I will still be on the coumadin for several months as I am taking part in a research project which requires that I be on this blood thinner for several more months. Coumadin is a hassle as it has to be checked frequently to see if your blood is too thin or thick. Also, if it is too thin, you're subject to abnormal bruising and bleeding.