MY RELATIONSHIP TO DA VINCI SURGERY: Patient

MY CONDITION: Heart Murmur / Irregular Heartbeat

TYPE OF PROCEDURE I HAD: da Vinci Mitral Valve Repair

DATE OF PROCEDURE: Aug 21, 2008

MY SURGEON: Dr. Gerald M. Lawrie

HOSPITAL WHERE MY PROCEDURE WAS PERFORMED: The Methodist Hospital

THE BIGGEST CONCERNS I HAD ABOUT TREATMENT:
My father had open heart surgery in 2001. His sternum was sawed open and re-attached afterward. He slept sitting up for three months., With the robotic procedure, the chances for a successful repair are near 100 percent. Without the robot, many more people get something other than repair: replacement. I did not want a replaced mitral valve if I could have a repaired one. The mitral valve is vastly more complex than the aortic valve, and replacement is often less effective than repair and requires the use of blood thinners for life following the surgery.

ABOUT MY RECOVERY TIME:
I was able to walk around the hospital corridors after three days. I had the okay to drive after two weeks, and I'll never forget the 16th day after the surgery, I went fishing at the beach in Corpus Christi.

ABOUT MY SURGEON AND/OR FACILITY STAFF:
I went to Methodist Hospital in Houston where one of the best surgeons in the world, Dr. Gerald Lawrie, uses the da Vinci Robot. I was particularly fortunate to have Dr. Lawrie perform my surgery because he invented the mitral valve repair procedure, known around the world as "The American Correction."

Who doesn't know somebody who has a heart murmur? For most of my life, if I mentioned my heart murmur, someone else in the group also had one. It was a matter for light conversation, not a serious subject. It was like talking with someone who drives the same make of car that I have.
Unlike most of these people, by the time I was 52 my heart murmur (also known as mitral valve prolapse) was on course to kill me. My mitral valve was coming undone. It was leaking severely, but like some other people with this condition, I was "asymptomatic." I had no symptoms of heart disease. Plus I was a slender guy who ate well and exercised three times a week. I considered myself healthier than most people my age.
During a routine examination, the trained ear of my doctor set me on a whirlwind course resulting in open heart surgery after just a few weeks. Dr. Mario Martinez, an internist, listened through his stethoscope for only a few seconds and told me that I needed to see a cardiologist. I remember saying to him, "please don't sugarcoat it." I wanted his best evaluation of my condition, and I got it. He asked me to turn my head to the side, and he showed me how my jugular veins were slightly expanded along my neck, a likely result of the backed-up flow from the heart. He said he believed that I would need a new or repaired heart valve some day, and in fact, major surgery could be necessary very soon. Visits to a cardiologist soon proved it all to be accurate.
You may have heard the term, "minimally invasive." This seems like an understatement for robotic heart surgery. For the robotic surgery, Dr. Lawrie inserted tiny tubes into my chest. One held the heart open, another carried the camera, and others carried tiny tools that perform the incisions, stitching and other tasks. My failing connective tissue was replaced by tough threads that will last beyond my lifetime.
Now, I have only to take low-dose aspirin. That's all.
I spoke with Dr. Lawrie after the surgery. He confirmed the echocardiograms show I have gone from severe leakage to no leakage. The defining moment of the entire experience occurred next. I asked him what would be likely to happen if I had left my heart untreated. The doctor who worked side-by-side with Michael DeBakey for 20 years and is now a legend in his own right has a way of looking cheerful and positive no matter what he says: "Fatal in two to three years!"
I wasn't expecting that. Even after I had seen the images of my flapping, distorted valve, I still thought of myself as that healthy guy with good blood pressure and cholesterol levels, slender build and good diet and exercise. I thought I would hear that the symptoms would have gradually worsened in my sixties and seventies. But no. Fatal in my mid-fifties.
There, in a nutshell, is my experience. Instead of a fatal heart condition, I now have a corrected heart that is expected to provide "significantly more energy" than I had before the operation. And recovery in a fraction of the normal time.
Some people have all the luck. That would be me, fishing just 16 days after heart surgery.