Cara's Guestbook

Hi Cara, I too had Hodgkins Disease, in 1993. Chemo and radiation. I had a heart attack almost three years ago thanks to the radiation narrowing my arteries. I got three stents at that time. Fast forward to June this year, I had both the aortic and mitral valve replaced with St Jude mechanicals (along with a double bypass). As far as timing, I think they try to find that moment when they are severe enough to replace, but not too severe, so you are still healthy enough to handle the surgery. I'm now on Coumadin the rest of my life and get my INR checked quite often, but the surgeon is confident I may never need to have these valves replaced again. I wish you the best of luck with your surgery. I think many here would agree that waiting is the hardest part.