Dan's Guestbook

Susan Lynn  Dan and David - The Dynamic Duo - Is it five years already for you guys? Glad to see you, and Cheryl, back on the site. Happy Belated Anniversary!

Dan Baltazor  Hi Cheryl!  Happy 5 yr anniversary to you guys as well.  Thanks for reaching out. Great to hear David's update.  My update is just as good, no issues, in fact I find myself sometimes forgetting about it, except when Nov. 12th comes around.   Please do reach out if you find yourselves here in Washington, would love to meet.  

Thank you Susan.  Time goes by quickly when your health is good.  Hope all is well with you.
I haven't been spending much time on the site, but I will go and see your updates.

Dan Baltazor  Same and I went with the Edwards Inspiris Resilia tissue valve.  I was 45 at my surgery.  If you look to the left, under your name, you'll see "My Control Panel" under "Where To Go".  Then click on "See My subscribers".  You'll see a list of emails of who is following you.  You'll see my email address there with the same name.  Feel free to reach out there.

Dan Baltazor  Hi Ana! Thanks for reaching out. I just read briefly about your new struggle and we sure hope you have been able to get relief. We are both doing well, no medical issues to report of and my valve is doing great! I just received my 2nd Covid vaccine shot and no side effects. Blessings to you Ana!!

  No new struggle anymore. All good for now. I too got my second vaccine and didn’t have any side effects, Thank God! Don’t forget us and write when you can or when you run a marathon. God bless you

Dan Baltazor  Hi Judi, I’m sorry you're having to face this, but I’m happy for you that you have found this website and the book for encouragement. It was my lifeline the months before leading up to my surgery and my family’s lifeline
during my surgery. So hopefully your husband and family will find it beneficial as well as you do.
Yes, my surgery was done in Tacoma, WA at Tacoma General/ Pulse Heart Institute and my surgeon was Dr. Allen Graeve. I also was not a candidate for minimally invasive surgery.


I found peace, comfort and trust after meeting with him the first time. Hopefully you experience that as well
when meeting your surgeon. The staff at TG was very good to me too.

Once you’ve made your decisions of surgeon, valve types, hospital, you know the hard ones,
then just trust the decisions that you’ve made. Advice came to me from this website of distract, distract, distract after the decisions are made. That was good advice. As everyone says, the waiting is the hardest part. Your mind will go all over the place at all times of the day. I made myself an inspirational
playlist which really helped to listen to in my moments of doubt and anxiety.
After surgery, It’s slow going. You’re going to have bad and good days. Don’t be discouraged by the bad days.
It may seem for a little period there’s no improvement in your recovery and may even feel set back some days.
It’s ok to have the bad days, this is a challenging surgery but you can do it. We all here have and you can get inspiration from everyone’s recoveries. Also, I would recommend creating a profile of your own here, as you will find amazing support as you go through this journey as everyone lifts you up.

Funny, I get that, there is some comfort about a local going through the same thing.
We love camping out at Port Townsend and hanging out in town. Port Townsend brewery
is one of our favorites.

My wife and I would be more than happy to be more reachable if you need it.
Let me know and we’ll figure out a way to exchange emails.

Dan

Dan Baltazor  It's great to hear from you, and glad to hear you are doing well physically. I'm also doing well. We are on stay at home orders here in WA, so heeding that. Having life shut down is a challenge but we are thankful and appreciative for what we do have and feel bad for those who's jobs are on overtime and overwhelmed. Social media has been a great tool in keeping in touch and have found ourselves on here much more as well. Be Healthy!

Dan Baltazor  Hello from WA!!! We are doing well, thank you for thinking of us and prayers. Yes, we agree and feel for those patients who are in the waiting room or are having OHS with the virus so front and center. A whole new level to think and be anxious about. Be Healthy and prayers to you both as well.

Dan Baltazor  Happy Anniversary to you both as well. I was thinking about you today as well remembering all the emotions from a year ago. It's great to be here and hope the best for you as well.
Blessings to you both! Dan and Steph

Dan Baltazor  Back to you two, Happy Anniversary! So great to hear how well he's doing. Doing good here as well. I recently had to leave town for a family thing and felt apprehensive about flying. We ended up driving the 1500 miles (round trip) with out any apprehensive feelings at all. So glad that David is doing so great as not to miss out on a trip to Spain even if is for work. 4 months out is definitely a game changer. Our surgery dates were timed perfectly to have a great summer full of activity!