The Surgery

Once you are in the operating room, several monitoring devices will be attached to your arms and legs. There will be thin tubes placed in a vein and an artery. This is ordinarily not painful.

The anesthesiologist will administer the anesthetic, which will bring deep sleep, freedom from pain, and absence of memory of the operation. During surgery a heart-lung bypass machine will take over the normal functions of your heart and lungs allowing the surgeon to replace or repair your heart valve.