Kenny's Guestbook

This is my first time on the site and your blog helped . I'm having surgery at HUP on Feb 6th. I'm having aortic valve repair and a graft to replace my ascending aneurysm. I live in Bucks County ,Pa with my wife and 8 yr old son . Obviously I'm nervous ,sometimes think I'm crazy as my aneurysm is 4.8 cm and I've been told I can wait, but I decided to get it over with while I'm still relatively young (45). Just wanted to say thanks

Hi Kenny, Saw your journal post today. It made me feel a bit better.... I'm scheduled for mitral valve repair on May 22, 2014. Similar to your story - got diagnosed with a murmur a number of years back and they kept following it (had mild regurg at time of diagnosis). Nov 2013 was told it was now severely leaking and needed to get fixed while I still felt good and was asymptomatic (for the most part). I'm relatively young (just turned 48 this March) so everyone seems to think I'll bounce back without an issue. Had shoulder surgery just after Christmas 2013 and have been going through that recovery and physical therapy process. Still getting strength and full range of motion back - but think I'm ready for the heart surgery now. Thanks for sharing your story. Deb Glad to hear you are doing so well. I'm originally from New Jersey (born in Rahway, raised in Freehold, worked in Trenton for a number of years) so it made me happy to see a fellow Jerseyan (?) do well and recover.

congrats Kenny. I am coming up on a year May 9 for my first surgery. I too sometimes forget i ever had surgery and my last one was 9 months ago, I am losing weight and getting off more medication. I work out and feel in better shape now than before..the only weight training i haven't been cleared for is bench pressing. life is good and im grateful for Penn. haven't been released yet, i think they are going to keep me for a few years.. best to you. dont forget to post once in a while,

Kenny, You are in a very similar situation than I was/am. Please read my journal to see what all I've done before and after surgery. I am very much convinced that very strenous exercise has caused and or worsed my regurgitation before and after surgery. Prior to surgery my MR (Mitral Regurgitation) was severe. 1 month after it was mild. And 6 months post op, after months of hard exercise, my MR returned to upper levels of moderate. I still feel great but the echos show otherwise. Since June I have been exercising lightly and keeping a chart of my echo tests to see if my MR returns down to mild. I have also been keeping track of one other person in a similar situation of yours and mine. Would you mine sharing your echo data with me? This will help me confirm or rule out my theory that intense excercise can cause or accelerate valve damage. If you are willing to share this info we can do it over personal email. The numbers I am interested in are your regurgitation volume, your left Atrium and Ventricle measurements, and Blood pressure. All of this from echos you have had before and after surgery. You can message me if you want more details on my theory. Thanks, Travis

Kenny,don`t you think that to much exercises could be harmful for the new-repaired valve,do you? Be careful about that..moreover to much running can cause later knee`s pain

Baby, You never stop inspiring me. Watching you these past six months has been amazing. I love that now we are training partners instead of couch potatoes. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making this decision; I would be lost without you. xo

glad to hear you are doing so well. I had my surgery(the first) around the time you did May 8th then after the endocarditis I had the second on Aug 8th. I agree, life has been great and though i sent through some really rough times, now I am feeling "back to normal". i went back to work last week, 4 weeks after my last IV infusions that i received for 6 weeks. take care Kenny!

Kenny So glad you are doing so well! You will be one of my role models I take with me on Tuesday as I enter Mt. Sinai for my mitral valve repair. Keep it up, Kenny!

Hi Kenny,could you tell me if you have elevated blood pressure before surgery? Also,do you used to have strenuous physical activity and what type? By the way I am very glad when I read your recovery is successful!