Sheffield health: "Amazed" pensioner goes home within hours of having heart valve replacement surgery

An 86-year-old man who was able to go home on the same day as having a heart valve replacement has said he "can’t believe" how good he feels.

Donald Raybould, from Chesterfield, went into Sheffield’s Northern General Hospital for the procedure in the morning on January 30, and went home five hours post-procedure.

The minimally-invasive procedure, TAVI (transcatheter aortic valve implantation), enables older patients with severe heart valve disease to avoid open heart surgery and general anaesthesia, but still have their valves replaced.

Donald said: "It’s only been a couple of days since my op, but I feel so much better. Before my op I’d been stopping twice to go upstairs or to the bathroom, but now I can go upstairs without any problem. It’s given me my life back.

"I went in at 7.30am with my little bag of stuff and I was expecting to stay in for at least a couple of days. Whilst I was lying flat during the procedure, the surgeon said, 'with a little bit of luck, we’ll get you home tonight'."

A few hours later, the former builder had recovered enough to sit up, and immediately noticed a difference. 

"When I got up I felt so much better. I was amazed at how good I felt," he added.

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Donald remained in the recovery area of the Chesterman unit for a further few hours, but thanks to the light sedation and minimal access approach to heart, he was fit and well enough to go home by 5pm.

He said: "I’ve always been active, I do my gardening and my hobby is rebuilding old motorbikes in the garage, but my narrowed heart valve meant I could not work in the garden or fix up my beloved piles of rust."

TAVI is a relatively new keyhole heart procedure, which has been shown to add another 10 to 15 quality years of life to elderly patients with severe heart valve disease. 

Left untreated, survival rates for elderly patients with this form of the disease are worse than some cancers.

Heart valve disease also remains 'silent' in many patients – meaning symptoms are not picked up on until they are at their severest.

Donald said: "I couldn’t be more grateful to the TAVI team at the Northern General Hospital. They looked after me as if I were a prince. Every one of them has been fabulous – from the nurses on the ward to the surgical team. They have all been absolutely brilliant."

Interventional Cardiologist, Dr Muhammad Rahman, said Donald was a "fantastic" patient.

"We are delighted to have got him home on the same day as his op. The whole team's effort to get elderly heart patients like Donald home, recovered, and able to live their life again, has been phenomenal," he said.

"Whilst not everyone will be able to go home on the same day, we hope to keep pushing the boundaries and using our specialist skills to transform the lives of hundreds of elderly patients in the region."