Herb's Guestbook

  Happy first Anniversary Herb. You are doing great and I pray you will continue to stay healthy. Stay in touch and God bless you

Herb Greenberg  Deena, thanks very much. Our anniversaries are weeks apart. Glad you are doing so well. If this journey did nothing else it reminded me how remarkable the human body's ability is to heal and move on. Ana and Susan, thanks and always great hearing from both of you. We are all in this together!!!!

john roland  Hey Herb I followed you like a hawk because I was a few weeks behind you. Your blogs were great and I felt a lot of relief after reading them. My one year anniversary is coming soon and I just can't believe how fast and far I have come. It was an amazing journey and I just can't thank everyone enough from the Cleveland Clinic to Adam and you bloggers for all the advice. Life is so good, the bump in the road was over in three months, now if only the roads in New Jersey could be bump free in 3 months.

Herb Greenberg  John, glad you bounced back. And glad I could grease the skids with my insights, as others did for me. The speed from zero to three months is quite a thing to behold. I felt terrible that you had to do in during the early part of Covid, but as they say - alls well that ends well. This has been a fantastic forum. Too bad we all can't meet in person. Hard to explain to anybody this crazy connection. Cheers.

john roland  Maybe some day Adam will come with with a heart valve reunion date. Every year at a big hotel in a different part of the country. Take care

Herb Greenberg  Kathleen, it's an older type of tissue valve, tried and true, but depending on his age and where he is having it done, they may use something else. I would go with the surgeon's recommendation. (Please tell me that unless this is an emergency, you got a second opinion regarding the surgery.) Before surgery I spent a lot of time researching surgery. I concluded that for most people the odds of a great outcome are very high. Hospital and surgeon are important in the selection process. Post-surgery was not as bad as I had expected. I hear that over and over. The first few days are not the most fun, but the meds they give you do wonders and as long as you follow instructions and protocol the healing will progress. Attitude going in is very important. The more positive, the better! This IS a big deal but these surgeons do it every day; it's their day job. For the rest of us, hopefully it's a rarity in our lives. And with my surgery a year in the rearview mirror, I view the experience positively. Let's put it like this: Two-months post surgery I would have felt comfortable (if Covid hadn't been a thing) hopping on a plane to travel cross country to a business event. If he would like to chat let me know.

Bob Fessler  The surgery for me was a lot easier and wayyyy less painful than I thought possible. I had an Edwards bovine 3300 4 years ago. It felt like a truck had hit me afterwards because I had no energy. Totally tired but.....no pain. Your husband can do this! Contact me if you want more detail about my recovery.

Herb Greenberg  Bob, maybe it's our brains doing selective memory and blocking out the bad stuff. I do recall, at one point in the ICU, saying to myself, "Better me than my wife." But things rapidly improved.

Herb Greenberg  Hi Ben, thanks very much. After reading some forums I over-visualized the drainage tube removals. Big mistake. (Was not as bad as I thought.) Everybody has a different experience with recovery, some harder than others. But I was fascinated in reading through the comments on so many forums the number of people who have said it wasn't anywhere near as bad as they had expected. These surgeons - replacing valves and repairing hearts is their day job. If I didn't have this 9" scar I'd never know I had surgery. And FWIW - my chest really never hurt much at all. My back after surgery - yes - that's quite common, but it went away within a week or so. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Ben Landry  That is such a relief Herb. Truly, thank you. My imagination is definitely running a bit wild. I met with the surgeon today and he also helped put me at ease... Thanks again.

Herb Greenberg  Jim, thanks. Isn't Dr. Griffin fantastic? Glad to hear she is doing so well; hopefully I can match that.

Herb Greenberg  Hi Kari -

All went well and surprised how good I feel, even with a 10-inch scar, which I forget is there. Ran into Desmond pre-surgery. Looks like he is doing tremendously well. His valve surgery certainly is deep history. Thanks very much.

Herb Greenberg  Mike, yeah you were right - they know what they're doing in Cleveland. I'm stunned at how well I feel. Now if only it would stop raining I can go out and walk.