Heart valve replacement abroad

We took my mother to Ichilov for aortic valve replacement surgery. It was in 2014. Mom at that time was 78. Old age, but only heart problems prevented her from leading an active lifestyle. In our polyclinic and cardiological dispensary, we have long been written off under the brand name “such an age, but what do you want?”. And we wanted my mother to live in peace and feel good.

When we turned to Ichilov, my mother’s age did not become an obstacle in order to conduct the necessary examination and treatment. We arrived in Tel Aviv, they picked us up from the airport and took us to the clinic. The examination began on the day of admission. On the third day, the doctor already had all the data. He spoke in great detail about my mother’s condition, what the operation would give and how this operation would go.

The operation went very well. Two days later, my mother was transferred from the intensive care unit to the ward. By that time, she could already sit down and even walk a little. Doctors and nurses actively encouraged her to do this. After another 5 days, we were moved from the hospital ward to a hotel, where a nurse periodically visited my mother and made the necessary appointments during the week. After the final examination by the attending physician, we were allowed to go home with detailed recommendations.

Everything went smoothly, calmly, without nerves. We were surrounded by care from the first day. The positive attitude of the people around, the excellent conditions greatly contributed to the fact that my mother agreed to the operation and was able to easily survive it in a purely psychological sense.

Our attending physician talked to us a lot before and after the operation, while my mother was in intensive care every few hours he personally came to check on her condition. We are very grateful to our cardiac surgeon, as well as nurses, managers of the medical tourism department, who organized everything for us. To everyone who asks us about the treatment of their mother, about the operation, we tell in detail about the Israeli clinic and recommend it to everyone.

It is clear that valve replacement has not been considered a particularly difficult operation for many years. But when you have to do such an operation yourself, you still look for the best options and doctors for yourself so that everything goes without complications. There is a lot of information about foreign clinics now, so I had plenty to choose from. I stopped at the Yeditepe University Hospital. I was bribed by the fact that a lot of good things are written on the forums about cardiologists working in this hospital.

The clinic itself is a heaped-up building that looks more like our business centers. Landscaped green area on all sides. Masters of their craft work here. The operation was done well. Several days in intensive care flew by almost unnoticed. For some time I was under the supervision of the attending physician before I was able to fly home. I liked everything. Everything is done and organized with soul and for people.

I just returned from Turkey, where I had an operation to replace the aortic valve with a mechanical one and correct the mitral valve with a ring. The whole trip took 3 weeks. During this time, I was fully examined, consulted by doctors of several specialties, prepared for the operation, operated on, put on my feet and sent home. How many years of my life I would have to spend to do all this at home, one can only guess. And the results would still be unknown. I was prescribed medication to take for the rest of my life. I brought most of the drugs with me from abroad, so as not to experiment here with analogs, which can be very different in quality, regardless of price. Now I need to visit the doctor periodically. And it makes sense to turn to the same foreign specialist, as it turns out faster, easier and more reliable in terms of both examination and treatment.

Я хочу выразить благодарность израильским врачам, без которых я бы скорее всего и не выжила. У меня много лет порок сердечного клапана. И болезнь прогрессировала постоянно, несмотря на лечение. Наши врачи только разводили руками. Ничем, кроме таблеток, они помочь мне не могли. У нас нет ни оборудования, ни специалистов, которые могут делать такие сложные операции на сердце. Я уверена, что не будь у нас такого наплевательского отношения к медицине, все могло бы быть по-другому, так как наши люди умные и трудолюбивые. Но в итоге, когда мое состояние ухудшилось очень сильно, так что была угроза жизни, я все-таки решилась обратиться за помощью к благотворителям и поехать лечиться в Израиль.

Мне провели операцию по замене клапана. Операция прошла хорошо. Я очень быстро восстановилась. В реанимации провела всего 4 дня, потом все время врач наблюдал меня в отделении. После операции я как заново родилась. Уже и забыла, каково это быть нормальным здоровым человеком. Теперь я наверстываю то, о чем мне в течение нескольких лет оставалось только мечтать, дышу полной грудью и строю планы на будущее, в которое уже не верила. Каждое утро я говорю спасибо моим лечащим врачам за их работу, и этому миру, в котором есть такие больницы и такие специалисты.

I went to Ichilov to replace a heart valve. Just in line with the cardiologist, the woman began to tell how she did heart surgery abroad and how much easier everything is there. For us, the then poor fellows, practically living in queues at the cardio dispensary, this was something incredible. Yes, it is expensive, but here you either pay to return to a full life, or you continue to watch how the condition gets worse month after month.

From the bottom of my heart I want to thank all the medical staff of the center for their care and friendly attitude, professionalism. The survey was carried out without delay. All consultations were held at a high level. The operation went well.