Testimonials

“The pain was minimal….I had surgery on a Monday and was home on Wednesday”

“After following up with Dr. Murphy and through his assistance, he gave me tremendous comfort to the point I was wondering if this procedure, being so minimally invasive, was even believable…that I could be back to my normal abilities at no time at all.“

“ I had the opportunity of meeting Dr. Murhpy back in October and I’ve dealt with a lot of surgeons considering my situation and I have never met such a professional, structured staff including Dr. Murphy. He made me feel 100% comfortable and I would definitely refer a friend or family member if they required minimally invasive heart surgery.”

 

Written Testimonials, (procedure patient had completed)

Jeremy Kennedy, (MVR)

After a brief case of Bronchitis, I went to my family practitioner for antibiotics to knock the temporary illness (Mar 2010). However, it was that visit that prompted my doctor to urge me to visit a cardiologist immediately. Apparently, I had an irregular heartbeat and there were lots of abnormal swishing hints going on and an echo-cardiogram was ordered. 7 days later, I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse – which is not that uncommon, but for me, any diagnosis other than a clean bill of health is uncommon. Apparently, the prolapse (basically a valve fault in which one of the ‘flaps’ wasn’t opening / closing properly) was a result of an ‘injury’ though the culprit of this injury is still unknown (dental bacteria? working out? high-impact stress incident? who knows..). Several echo-cardiograms later and the images showed an increase in my heart chamber mass because of the expansion making way for all of the blood-flooding rushing in. Me being so active in & out of the gym, I work the heart pretty hard. It was either have the surgery to repair the valve or prepare for congestive heart failure. I had the surgery (robotic) on 19th (St Josephs’ Hospital… absolutely the best in the world!) of November and was in ICU for nearly 24 hours following the procedure before I received a private recovery room which became my residence for 3 days. I was released – granted lots of meds (including Meterol, Percocet) to keep me energized and on the following Friday (11/26), I returned to the gym and began a recovery workout which consisted of chest, biceps, shoulders, lats, quads, glutes, and abs in long sets of weight just below my routine baseline. The doctor told me 2 weeks, but I wanted to test the waters… I was very satisfied with my accomplishments from that one return to the gym. I’ve continued this recovery plan 3x each week ever since. My surgeon gave me approval to resume all normal activity 2 weeks following the surgery. Twenty-one days following the procedure, I increased my ability back to the initial mass-sizes of free weights and nautilus equipment at the level I achieved before the surgery. Because the surgery is robotic, no bones are broken. Entry for the incisions are on the side through the ribs and one in the groin. I have 6 stab wounds and none of them are expected to scar. It has been miraculous, though painful (removing all of the tubes leaves a swelling impression that no man or woman should have to feel!), but I’m back, now bulletproof and giving each workout 100%. 

Honestly, my chest cavitity was ‘sore’ for several months following the procedure (on my right side making sleeping difficult as I’m a ‘side-sleeper’) but eventually, the soreness succeeded. I came off the meds less than 21 days following the surgery and today, I only take 81mg of Regimen Bayer aspirin daily and I no longer have a ‘pre-condition’.

Anyway, that’s my story.

Blessed,

Jeremy Kennedy.

 

Dr. Avery Brinkley, M.D. (MVR, Cryoablation, Pulmonary Vein Isolation)

In December last year I had elective robotic-assisted minimally invasive mitral annuloplasty for moderate mitral insufficiency as well as cryoablation to prevent future atrial fibrillation.   I am very thankful to have been referred to Dr. Murphy by another chest surgeon with whom I had practiced previously.  Dr. Murphy’s staff is exceptional and Saint Joseph’s Hospital and staff are excellent.   I had no major complicatons—some minor things such as skin numbness over the front of my left thigh from the cutdown for cannula placement and a little right breast area numbness.   The 5 small right chest incisions healed nicely and are far preferable to the large midline scar which most open heart patients recieve and which takes alot longer to heal.   This surgery is so minimally invasive that the complication rate and speed of recovery are hugely superior.  I was able to go back to work about two weeks after surgery.  After the first month I was able to start ramping up my exercise level to preop status.   Now I feel great especially after a 4 month cardiac echo study showed no valve leak and return of  heart chamber size to near normal!   Should I ever require future heart surgery I certainly hope Dr. Murphy is still available as I would not hesitate to go through this again.

Avery Brinkley, MD


Nina Wise, (MVR, Cryoablation, Pulmonary Vein Isolation)

I had a robotic assisted mitral valve repair by Dr. Doug Murphy on February 2, 2011. I was quite frightened about undergoing this surgery and Dr. Murphy, during our initial phone interviews, was  reassuring, calm, patient and most importantly, highly informative providing me and my cardiologist brother with detailed information about the procedure. Armed with this information, I was able to make a decision to move forward with the robotic repair despite the less than enthusiastic opinion of my beloved cardiologist regarding going this route.

The surgery went extremely well. The ICU nurses were excellent, and I felt the entire time that I was in very good hands. I had the surgery on a Wednesday morning, was released from the ICU with all tubes removed on Thursday morning, and was released from the hospital on Friday morning. I took Percoset until Sunday and then managed the pain, which was not at all extreme, with Tylenol. While I do not want to minimize the ordeal, I found it much less difficult than I had imagined. I am now just over three months post surgery and am taking long hikes with my dogs, dancing vigorously, and fully functional at work. I still have minor symptoms (some dizziness after exertion) but am truly amazed at the rapidity of my recovery. Both my cardiologist brother and my cardiologist were very impressed with the robotic assisted repair, and the good news is that I no longer have a prolapsed valve with severe regurgitation.Dr. Murphy and his staff and crew are fantastic. I recommend them wholeheartedly (hahaha) to anyone considering a mitral valve repair.

Nina Wise

 

Joy Clift, (MVR)

Since my surgery I have started running which I was never able to do before. I can keep up with my beautiful children and my fabulous dance students. My quality of life has improved so much. I feel great my fatigue is gone and so are my awful headaches and just overall malaise. I only have Dr. murphy and his wonderful staff to thank for this change in my life. The robotic surgery itself was amazing and I was out of the hospital in just three days and up and running within a couple of weeks.  My scars are minimal and the experience although scary was well worth it.

Joy Clift

 

Tim Ryan, (MVR, Full Cox MAZE)

My surgery was December 14, 2010 to repair a leaky mitral valve and perform the Maze procedure to stop atrial fibrillation.  The surgery was a great success and I have been back in normal rhythm since.  My first echo cardiogram was March 31 and the ejection fraction was 45 to 50.  I will have another echo in July.

I was very pleased with the work by Dr. Murphy and impressed with all staff I had exposure to.  I would recommend the robotic procedure highly and am willing to answer questions for future patients. Please advise if I can do anything further. Thanks for your consideration.”

Tim Ryan
Laura Thompson (MVR) riding her horse 15 days after robotic surgery!

 

 

Please feel free to contact us to email or call any of the patients who’s testimonials you have read. Former patients are always happy to talk with anyone considering a robotic procedure.