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Physical limitations with Leaky Valve

Posted by ficklefinn @ficklefinn, Aug 27, 2025

My two cardiologists have differing views:
One wants me to keep below 1,000 feet elevation and not to lift more than 30 pounds.
The second has no limitations on altitude and thinks 30 pounds is far too low but did not give me a limit! His only guidance is to monitor blood pressure and breathing as he says there is no studies on this.
Thank you for your input.
Mike

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neronel | @neronel | Oct 24, 2025
In reply to @tsc "@neronel, I had a mitral valve prolapse with severe regurgitation. I had no symptoms, other than..." + (show)
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@neronel, I had a mitral valve prolapse with severe regurgitation. I had no symptoms, other than a heart murmur, when I was examined for carpal tunnel syndrome.
One cardiologist told me to call him when I started getting short of breath, but a different cardiologist told me there were better outcomes when people had surgery before they went into Congestive Heart Failure. I took his advice and had open heart surgery, a repair, with a ring. I think I also had a Mitraclip. I was 69 at the time. I was in the hospital for two weeks after surgery with some complications, but I'm glad I had it done when I did.

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@tsc
Hi,
How old are you now? Can you comment on the complications that you had?

Thanks for the information.

Lou

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Teri | @tsc | Oct 24, 2025
In reply to @neronel "@tsc Hi, How old are you now? Can you comment on the complications that you had?..." + (show)
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@tsc
Hi,
How old are you now? Can you comment on the complications that you had?

Thanks for the information.

Lou

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@neronel, I'm 74 now and experienced a buildup of fluid in the pleural cavitythat had to be drained with tubes they called pigtails.

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neronel | @neronel | Oct 26, 2025
In reply to @tsc "@neronel, I'm 74 now and experienced a buildup of fluid in the pleural cavitythat had to..." + (show)
Profile picture for Teri @tsc

@neronel, I'm 74 now and experienced a buildup of fluid in the pleural cavitythat had to be drained with tubes they called pigtails.

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@tsc
Hi,
Well, I’m going to have to pursue some sort of treatment. I hope I can qualify for robotic surgery but I’m not sure. The Cleveland Clinic has an algorithm that determines if I qualify. I also require CT imaging. I guess they look for plaque in the femoral artery and other places. They say safety first.

If, not robotic, I probably wouldn’t qualify for the minimally invasive either. So, that would mean the open heart surgery.

From what I have read, the sooner the better. Even without symptoms, my heart is being over stressed and damage is inevitable. +4 MVP.

I also looked at the chances of mortality. The Clinic lost 1 in 2000 patients. So there’s that. So, they either fix it or I won’t care. I guess that’s a win-win right?

Anyway, thanks for the information.

If you or anyone has any experience with this, or can give me more details about something I missed, please do.
My brother-in-law had the open heart surgery for the same pathology as I have. But, he wasn’t very helpful. Didn’t know much, how they diagnosed it, or even why they decided on the open heart surgery. He seemed to think that while they were doing the repair, they noticed arterial blockages so they did a double bypass. This, I don’t know and I think that they knew before the surgery that he had blockages and that’s why they did the standard surgery.

I’ll find out in a couple of weeks what the doctors decide. I’m seeing the cardiologist that specialises in imaging, first.

Lou

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