Rebecca Winer
Fri, 22 Aug 1997

I am an 18 year old female with aortic regurgitation who just recently had the Ross Procedure. I thought I would share some of my experiences for those who have had or are considering this procedure. I am very happy to say that everything went very well with my June 3rd surgery and I was out of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia June 6, just three days after having had the Ross Procedure.

My best advice to anyone having this surgery is not to fret or stress themselves out. I surprised myself at how calm I remained throughout the whole ordeal. I realized later that it is just as well - stressing over the surgery would not change whatever would happen in the operating room. If you've done your homework you would already know that this procedure has an extremely high success rate. There can be some complications following the surgery - one that my cardiologist seemed to be the most watchful for was fluid around my heart - I think that it tends to be common after cardic surgery. Fortunately, I did not have any. My cardiologist had heard what she called a "rub" which was simply my heart's reaction to the surgery and after two weeks of taking 400 mg of ibuprofen a day, it went away.

As far as recovery goes, the first two postop days were bad. I literally felt as if I had been hit by a truck. One doctor described it to me this way: The first day you feel like you've been hit by a mac truck, the second a Volkswagon and the third a bike. I had morphine as my pain med for the first two days and it was a big help. Then I took Tylenol #3 as needed. The pain in the chest bone was the worst and sitting up was definately a chore.

I went directly to the CICU after surgery and slept the rest of the day and night away. The breathing tube was the first to go - it had been inserted through my nose, so my throat was not sore as with my previous surgeries when the tube had been through my mouth and into my throat. I also did not have an nasal gastric tube, which I had had with my '87 and '88 surgery (to surgically repair my aortic valve.) I had been given a med during the surgery to control any post-op nausea and vomiting -- which worked well.

I was out of the CICU the next day -- after they had removed the chest tube and foley catheter and was transferred to a regular hospital room. Later that evening I walked to the bathroom which was down the hall. It was very painful and tiring. I don't recommend making your first walk by yourself. I was very tired, very sore and weak. All of the doctors and nurses urge that you walk around as soon as possible to get your circulation going and clear your lungs. Sleeping on my side or stomach was not an option because of the discomfort and I had to sleep on my back. Since I prefer to sleep on my side this was an inconvience. It still hurts my chest occasionally.

On my third post-op day (evening) I went home. A shower never felt so good! The biggest challenge then was boredom. My only restrictions were not to lift heavy objects ("nothing heavier than a newspaper"), no vacuuming (not a problem), avoid sun on my incision, no swimming, and I couldn't drive for a month. I am a college student and work during the summer in an outlet shoe store, which luckily is not very physically demanding, so I was able to return to work part-time three weeks postop.

My medications did not change much after the surgery. As before my surgery, I am taking Lanoxin 0.125 mg 2x/day. Before the surgery I was taking Nifedipine XL (calcium channel blocker) and am now taking an Ace Inhibitor - Enalapril 2.5 mg 2x/day.

It is now over two months since I had the surgery and I am preparing to go off for my second year of college. I am not scheduled to see the cardiologist for a year.