Tina I am so proud of you for such a young beautiful niece, I couldnt of been happier the night I saw you in the hospital . I know alot has happened since but you are a very strong girl and its all down hill from here hope to see you soon.love auntie cheri

Hi Tina
Good to get an update from you. You have an amazing attitude and that will really help you in your recovery. They really got you into rehab quickly. I assume they don't have you using any of the equipment for your upper body yet. In a couple of weeks apparently you'll be able to progress. Having to have others help with hair, shampooing, etc must be a drag, but am sure you have willing helpers. All things in good time. You definitely have age on your side and those seniors are probably happy to see a young face. Keep up the great work!
Fran

Hi Tina. I just came across your journal, probably because I was still in the hospital from my surgery when you started it. What a scary time you have had, but I'm sure it feels good to be home. It's going to take a while, but there are better days ahead of us. Best wishes for a smooth recovery from here on. Joy Vera

Wow, what a scare for you (and probably for the nurse). Thank God there is such a thing as a pacemaker and now that you have one your heart will have a healthy beat. Not what you wanted or expected, but it will be okay. Keep a positive attitude and begin the job of healing.
Fran

Hi Tina
Just came across your journal. Reading some of the entries, I see your surgery went well, praise God. Now that it's behind you, you'll get on with the healing part and you won't have the constant worry of your aorta rupturing!! You may have some ups and downs but if you look at your progress by the week instead of the day, you'll see how far you've come. That was a lesson I had to learn after my March two valve surgery. Keep us up to date. Best wishes from FL.
Fran

Dear Tina,

You are a brave young lady and have a great faith in Him--He has you in the palms of His hands and has a special place for you in this world-I am so happy all went well for you and know I will continue to pray for you on your road to recovery.
God Bless honey....Love you, Judi Treuden

Hi Tina,
Well you have made it through a very difficult surgery and are on the road to recovery!
You are doing so awesome!
Your dad and I couldn't be more proud of you!
Remember we are here for whatever you need!
We love you,
June & Dad.

Hi Kristin,
I am a friend of your mother in law. You have many people praying for you. Keep up your strength. It is a blessing to hear you are doing so well. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts.
Gail Szuslik McKenna

It was so good to see you today. And of coarse you were in good spirits as usual :) You are a strong being and deserve to have a chance at every dream you may have. I wish you all the best of luck on your journey ahead, whatever it may be. Please, if you need anything once you come home, just call and we can help.
P.S. You were funny tonight, you sounded a little tipsy :>

Always in our heart,
~ Kristin ~ Andrew & Jesse ~

Tina, you are such an amazingly strong woman! I am so happy everything went as planned. You are a great cousin and I know we'll make many more happy memories in the future. You made me laugh today with your "no crying today" statement. :) Remember that we all love you. God has a great plan for you :)
See you again soon.
Kelly

Tina,
I find myself lucky to have such a wonderful, smart, strong and caring friend like you. You are always a positive and happy spirit in my life and I would like to thank you for that! Remember our conversation about God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle but apparently he seems to think you are a BAD @SS ( Chuck Norris Style) So I know you will kick butt and have speedy recovery! My family will be praying for you! We love you very much.
Ronessa, Dave and Ian Tholl

Tina
I'm so glad we got to see each other yesterday. I have faith in God, the doctors and your strength. You are so brave to go into this with such a positive and optimistic outlook. I'm so very proud of you. Maybe our "plan" will work out after all :) I will be thinking about you and praying for 7 hours straight tomorrow. Can't wait to see you when I get home. Luv you!!

Kristen

Tina,

I just want you know that I will be praying for you and thinking about you non stop! You are an AMAZINGLY STRONG, WONDERFUL young women and a true genuine friend! I am so blessed to have you in my life! I can only imagine how scary this has all been for you and your family. Have faith that god and all the angels will be watching over you. I can't wait until you are finally feeling good and can live a happy Long life.....and hopefully soon after have that precious little baby you have ALWAYS wanted.
Best wishes for a safe surgery and to a safe a quick recovery! I love you! Lots of hugs and prayers to YOU and the family! I will be there for you!

Love,
Lisa

Tina, just want you to know that you are, and will be in our prayers. Our little granddaughter Cassidy was on the heart lung machine when they removed one of her lungs the day she was born. She is 16 now and doing wonderful. I know you will be doing wonderful also.

God Bless

Grandpa and Grandma Zanotelli

Tina,

As Mark said, I think your biggest hurdle is this is happening so fast that it will be harder for you to emotionally prepare for surgery and recovery than for those of us who had a couple of months to read all we could and learn from everyone on this site.

I had my aortic valve replaced on May 20th at the Cleveland Clinic. I got a bovine valve . . . for me, there was never a question about a mechanical valve. I did not want to be on blood thinners the rest of my life. (And because you might want to become pregnant, I think you made a very wise decision to go with a pig valve.) Although it's possible I may need to have the valve replaced within 20 years, the surgery wasn't bad and, in my mind, a much better alternative to dealing with blood thinners. The good news is that by the time you or I need a replacement, it is more than likely we won't need surgery - that they will be able to do it through our arteries/veins.

Don't worry about the heart/lung machine . . . before surgery I was somewhat freaked out by the idea they would stop my heart and pump my blood through a machine. Of course I was asleep when they did it and after surgery it was the last thing I ever thought about. Concentrate on the fact they are able to do amazing things in surgery and the success rate is extremely high. You'll be fine and feel better than ever not that long after surgery. (Today is my 9 week anniversary and I'm completely fine!)

Best wishes for a smooth surgery and an easy recovery. As you have questions, don't hesitate to ask them here. There's LOTS of experience on this site and everyone is incredibly supportive.

Ricki Shine

Hi Tina,

Sounds like a very hectic and hurried procedure for you, but hopefully you have had some time to read up about what is going to take place and you are ready for it .. both mind and soul.

As scary as it all sounds, you are very probably going to be just fine and back to better than ever very quickly. I had a very similar surgery on May 5 at the Cleveland Clinic and was back at work six weeks later. I had known about my stenotic bicuspid aortic valve all my life and knew one day it would have to be replaced. I made it to 49 years old before it finally changed enough to demand surgery.

In the year between my last echo, and the one this January, my pressures had changed dramatically and i developed a 5.5 anuerysm on my aortic root. For years i had planned on a minimally invasive procedure, and with the anuerysm that was not an option. When my procedure was performed I had 3.5 inches of my aorta replaced with a dacron graft, along with a bovine tissue valve. In addition my surgeon had to perform a myectomy (shaving) of the left ventricle to reduce the tissue build up from the heart muscle which was having to work so hard.

The median sternotomy was only a minor challenge, and my recovery has been stellar. I was back at work full time after 6 weeks, and playing golf after 9 weeks. As much as I dreaded the sternotomy it simply was not that bad in my case, so relax and know you can do equally as well. On may 5 they literally took my heart apart and rebuilt it, and on may 6 I was walking the halls of the Cleveland Clinic.

Tina, you will be fine. It is very scary to anticipate this surgery, but the reallity is that it is not nearly as bad as what you are imagining. Get comfortable with the surgeon you pick, the valve you choose and never look back.. You will be back enjoying life very quickly.

I wish you the best of luck, and look forward to reading of your recovery.

Best wishes,
Mark
Keller, TX