19.5 weeks post surgery

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Posted by Dave Funderburg on January 04, 2002 at 14:18:20:

Followup with Cardiologist today. Dropped Coumadin (YEA!) switched to Plavix and baby asprin.
Dropped Lanoxicaps and reduced Quinidex. EF up to 60%. Very positive report and prognosis. As a
reminder I had a mitral valve repair, single bypass, and the MAZE on August 21, 2001 at Owens Heart
Center, Mission St Joseph Hospital, Asheville, NC. The surgeon was Dr. Harry Burton, Asheville
Cardiovascular Surgeons. Spent 7.5 hours on the table. My AF started about 9 years ago. Had a
cardioversion and stayed in NSR with Quinidex for about 6 years. For the last three years went into
AF more than 40 times and would not convert with medication. I think I hold a record of some type for
cardioversions. The need for a mitral valve repair before it got to the point that it would need to be
replaced made my decision to have the MAZE at the same time a no brainer. The presurgical cath
found a single artery with a 70% blockage so that was taken care at the same time. I have learned
several things about AF over the past few years. 1.) If you are lucky enough to be able to control your
AF with medication that doesn't destroy your quality of life it won't last forever. The AF will start again
at some point. 2.) Experimenting with alternative drugs to control the AF once you have reached the
point where the successful drug has failed doesn't work. 3.) While the MAZE may appear to be a
radical solution to AF, it does work. It is the only treatment that has a long term history of success.
Dr. Burton was selected because of his success rate in repairing rather than replacing mitral valves.
I also learned that he had not had a MAZE procedure fail to relieve AF and had never lost a patient
having elective surgery. 4.) The most difficult part of the process is the decision and then the waiting.

Some of our MAZE procedure only only members have had some amazing recovery times. With
the scope and length of my surgery I came back a little slower. The board members were great in
reminding me that 7.5 hours on the table and three procedures take more of a toll on your body than a
MAZE only procedure. I really felt pretty good before the surgery and even with an out patient
cardioversion every four or five weeks life wasn't to bad. It took more time than I was expecting to feel
better than I did before the surgery. At 19.5 weeks post MAZE I now feel better than I have in years.
Thanks to all of the board members for both the pre-decision and post-surgical information and support.
You made a difficult decision process easier and my recovery expections realistic. Thanks.

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