Has anyone had minimally invasive Septal Myectomy?

Posted by debra1954 @debra1954, Nov 21, 2024

I am considering having Septal Myecyomy but open heart surgery is daunting. I am 70 yr old female. Researching minimally invasive robotic surgery for this specific surgery. Has anyone had this type of surgery, pros and cons?
Thank you for sharing your experience.

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@walkinggirl

You are wise to study this minimally invasive procedure further. I wonder if the exact location of the myectomy is significant in the success rate. It is not uncommon for septal myectomy patients to need a pacemaker (it was decided I needed one 4 months after my surgery). When choosing where to have surgery, I chose a COE place, extremely glad I did. That said, one size does not fit all.

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Thank you. I’ve been doing more research and I have definitely decided to use a COE. I think you are right there are a lot of factors that Would make for the perfect candidate for robotic. But it is still a very new procedure, I can’t really find much (basically one article about 3 patients) in the published medical literature and I work at a University and know how to find the literature.
May I ask did you have to go out of state for your surgery? I’m very curious about what that looks like, for example how long do you have to stay close by the hospital after discharge, if all goes well?
I would love to go to Mayo but that is a long drive home to Texas, even after a couple of weeks post discharge!

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@deanr

Thank you. I’ve been doing more research and I have definitely decided to use a COE. I think you are right there are a lot of factors that Would make for the perfect candidate for robotic. But it is still a very new procedure, I can’t really find much (basically one article about 3 patients) in the published medical literature and I work at a University and know how to find the literature.
May I ask did you have to go out of state for your surgery? I’m very curious about what that looks like, for example how long do you have to stay close by the hospital after discharge, if all goes well?
I would love to go to Mayo but that is a long drive home to Texas, even after a couple of weeks post discharge!

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Hi deanr,
I live upstate NY north of Albany. No place near here does septal myectomies, had to travel. Accepted as a patient at Mayo, we heart patients deserve the best and the COEs in other places are good choices, too. We drove to Rochester, would have flown but airlines were having problems with delays and cancelled flights. There is an excellent concierge service at Mayo, did not know that they helped arrange flights till after the fact. They had a list of hotels, several with slight discounts for Mayo patients. Many people on this blog discussed different places to stay. We were at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5 minute/.2 mile walk to St Mary's where heart surgery takes place, husband could walk everywhere. A shuttle bus makes the rounds to hotels and various buildings. There were two days of testing before surgery and a 5 night hospital stay. I was discharged on a Tuesday and we started home on Wednesday morning. Stopped at just about every rest area so I could walk around with my shiny new walker (temporary short term good idea, see if you can borrow one) to avoid clots. At 5 pm on Thursday we were past Buffalo and decided to not stop for the night, 3.5 hours later we were home, so it took 2 days each way. I had no pain nor pain meds after 24 hours (amazing), moved slowly for me, felt much better than I thought I would, navigated no driving for 6 weeks. Now, others will have different stories. I am so very glad I marshalled my courage over my terror and fear and went to Mayo when HOCM got to the point where it was absolutely necessary. Keep us informed of your journey and wishing you the best!

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@walkinggirl

Hi deanr,
I live upstate NY north of Albany. No place near here does septal myectomies, had to travel. Accepted as a patient at Mayo, we heart patients deserve the best and the COEs in other places are good choices, too. We drove to Rochester, would have flown but airlines were having problems with delays and cancelled flights. There is an excellent concierge service at Mayo, did not know that they helped arrange flights till after the fact. They had a list of hotels, several with slight discounts for Mayo patients. Many people on this blog discussed different places to stay. We were at the Hilton Garden Inn, 5 minute/.2 mile walk to St Mary's where heart surgery takes place, husband could walk everywhere. A shuttle bus makes the rounds to hotels and various buildings. There were two days of testing before surgery and a 5 night hospital stay. I was discharged on a Tuesday and we started home on Wednesday morning. Stopped at just about every rest area so I could walk around with my shiny new walker (temporary short term good idea, see if you can borrow one) to avoid clots. At 5 pm on Thursday we were past Buffalo and decided to not stop for the night, 3.5 hours later we were home, so it took 2 days each way. I had no pain nor pain meds after 24 hours (amazing), moved slowly for me, felt much better than I thought I would, navigated no driving for 6 weeks. Now, others will have different stories. I am so very glad I marshalled my courage over my terror and fear and went to Mayo when HOCM got to the point where it was absolutely necessary. Keep us informed of your journey and wishing you the best!

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Deanr, people travel from all over the world to receive help at Mayo. Please do not let travel to and from Texas be a major factor in your plans to go there. The best part of your trip will be the fact that it will be unnecessary to drive around Chicago (a great place to visit, not drive).

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