Joey 's Guestbook

Joey Hardee  Hey Mike! Great to hear from you! I am very happy with my choice of the Edwards Inspris Resilia. Its been a process and I am doing very very well. I am happy to help in any way I can. If you would prefer to do it via email, give me your email address and I am happy to answer any questions you have and give what advice I can.

Joey Hardee  Hey Bob! So great to hear from you. I had been wondering how you were doing. Hope you are feeling fabulous. I am doing great. 62 days out from surgery and really do feel very good. I know I have more healing yet to go and I know I will feel even better in the weeks and months to come. Don't be a stranger! Need to know you are doing well. Thanks so much for the message!

Adam Pick  Step by step Joey! Step by step! It will get better! Keep on walking! That's exactly what I did to move the recovery along. Thoughts are with you!

Joey Hardee  Hey Steve. I'm just over 2 weeks post-op and haven't ventured outside yet. I live in Columbia, SC and it is one of the most humid places in the US. Mix in 92 - 95 degree temps and its almost unbearable if you are super-healthy. It has definitely gotten better for almost everyone I have been keeping up with. I'm gonna do my walking indoors for the next few days and then I may venture out and see how I do with a short outside walk.

Marie Myers  It does get better, day by day. I recovered in the heat and humidity of South Florida, so I know what you mean. Just keep at it, bit by bit.

Joey Hardee  Thanks John! So nice of you to reach out again. I so appreciate your insight and experience. Yes. It actually scared my family when they called after just 3 hours when they were prepared for 6. He is very good. I am glad he did my surgery. I do feel I am ahead of schedule based on what they tell me. I still feel quite weary and tired just walking around the house. I have to remember, I had major surgery 6 days ago. Knowing your timelines is a big help to me. I still hesitate before I get to my feet to be sure I'm ready.. Trying to balance doing enough with overdoing it. Going back to Gaca in a couple weeks. I will definitely post updates as I move through recovery. Thanks again, John. I so appreciate you!!!

Joey Hardee  Thank you Tracy & Adam. I so appreciate the thoughts and prayers. Been a little busy so far getting things ready at home. :-) Got a few more things on the list for tomorrow morning but once I get those knocked out, I plan to kick back and relax Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Gotta report Monday morning for Cath and they will admit me after. Thanks again! I think I am ready.

Rob Sparling  Joey, rooting for you! You are ready! You’ve been ready. And even if you aren’t, the sun comes up on Tuesday and you will be in great hands (whether you slept or not.). If you still have my email address, shoot me a note if anything you want/need to chat about privately. Praying for you and your family and fully expect all will go well. We never know, but that is certainly what should happen and what you’ve diligently worked for. Buckle up, pray hard and will it to be so. A few night prior to my surgery, I began visualizing laying on the table as I went to sleep on my bed. I visualized waking up and did so every morning. When I was on the table, I did the reverse (imagined being in bed at home). It all helped... Do relax this weekend! Life is beautiful, you are extending it!

Frank DeGrazia  Joey All the best to you As has been said sometimes the “Wait and worry. Is worse than the event “ I will be following your progress Might be a slight pause though . . Going in the week after you for the same “time up”. 👍 prayers to you

Joey Hardee  So appreciate your thoughts and prayers. You guys are awesome. Thank you, Rob! I'm hoping to do as well as you and Dan in my recovery.. Your example and words of encouragement over the last few months mean a lot to me. Frank - I will be following your progress as well! Praying for you to get fixed and recover fully and quickly! Joy and Louanna - Thank y'all so much for the encouragement and inspiration!!!

Joey Hardee  Thank you, John!! This means a lot to me. I so appreciate your reaching out. You are obviously doing fantastic and I am thrilled for you. I really like Dr Gaca. My consult with him went very well. I am excited to get on the other side of this and I have no doubt he is the man for the job. Right now I have good days and bad days but the constant symptom is my ankles swelling which has gotten progressively worse over the last several months so I know I have to get this done. I am really trying to be super positive and set recovery goals. I am calling my surgery a "step" to my goals to run a 5K in November and play a tennis tournament in February. I am also wanting to mix in some golf and a NC mountain hike to some water falls in Oct/Nov. I have already set a date with a tennis buddy to do some light tennis drills in September. Just want to get back to my active life I basically left behind in 2016. However, even in 2016, I wasn't feeling "right". I was just kind of blocking it out I think. I have heard that a lot of people need to have AVR surgery and recover to really realize all the symptoms they were having before. Again, thank you for reaching out to me, John. I so appreciate that and especially coming from another patient of Duke and Dr. Gaca. Oh, and thanks for the treats! :-))

John Isham  Joey...all will be fine and all those goals and aspirations you have set for yourself WILL happen! I spin 5-6 x per week and have since week 3 1/2 after my surgery so ALL will be fine with you!

Joey Hardee  Thank you John. It would be cool to have one of those Peloton bikes and actually be able to use it! :-)) I really appreciate the inspiration!

Joey Hardee  Hey Mike - I must've overlooked this before somehow. How's that walking going for you now? I know you are ready to get back to the weights. :-) Have they let you jog yet in CR? Hope all is progressing well for you!

Joey Hardee  Hey Lauren! The Ross seems to be a great option, especially for someone young so that is awesome. I believe Adam (author of the book and founder of this awesome site) had the Ross as well. He is doing fantastic! Will keep your daughter in my prayers. Which hospital/surgeon did she choose?

Joey Hardee  That is awesome news, Barbara!! So glad you can hold off. Maybe you can hold off long enough to get the TAVR down the road. That technology continues to progress at a fast pace. Keep us updated!!

Joey Hardee  Hey Barbara! Thank you for the note. I will be praying for you. I have heard good things about Dr Glower as well. Please update when you feel up to it. I know you will rock this!

Joey Hardee  Hey Tim! Wow. Right here close. I have cousins in Mt Pleasant and used to go to Charleston weekly on business in my previous career. Small world!
I actually played baseball for S. Carolina "back in the day" and I thoroughly enjoy going to football games. We have a pretty crazy atmosphere for most games, that's for sure. I have never been to Knoxville for a game, but I want to go one day.
The biggest factor was geography. I had made a list of surgeons and Dr Roselli was at the top. I never got to speak directly with Dr Roselli. I only spoke with one of his NP's (I think). He did review all my imaging and said I was not a candidate for repair because my valve had a good bit of calcification. Had I been a candidate for repair, I would be having my surgery at CC even though it is 13 hours away by car. Dr Gaca was also in my top 5 and he was at Duke....3.5 hours away...I was able to go sit with him and get very comfortable that he could do the replacement and Duke was a great center. He agreed with Dr Roselli's evaluation almost verbatim. I felt very comfortable at Duke. All that being said, if CC was 3.5 hours away, Dr Roselli would be doing my surgery. Stay in touch. I would really like to keep up with you. I will be going in on June 18th. Will keep you on my prayer list.

Joey Hardee  Hey Barbara. I could have scheduled earlier but Dr. Gaca thought I could wait until my family's schedule was better. I feel very blessed for being able to wait. I got the feeling that had he thought I needed to have it the following week, he could have made it work, even though he's a busy surgeon. Praying all goes well for you.

Joey Hardee  Thanks a lot, Rob. You and so many others are what this site is all about. Such an inspirational place to go to hear the reality of the post-surgery side. I really don't know where my head would be right now if not for this site and the daily inspiration. Yes, the thought of OHS occupies my mind a lot these days. But, ts not nearly as frightening (at least at the moment) as I know it would have been. I am setting post-op goals instead of wallowing in overwhelming dread.....trusting that God has a plan and its perfect. Thanks again for being here post-surgery. That's what makes this site so special. That's what gives the waiting room folks hope for an awesome life after surgery. I will try to give an update after my consult with Dr Gaca (pronounced "GAY-suh", by the way) on Monday. Thanks again, brother.

Civita Fahey  Glad you found this site also.. It was my rock before and after my surgery and continues to be. After two years I still check it almost daily and try to give as much I can to those who ask. You will do just great, we all have the feelings of gloom and doom when we first find out, but its doable and a positive attitude is the part of it al.. best and prayers to you Joey.

Joey Hardee  Thanks Rob! I am hanging in there. Dr Roselli finally reviewed all my scans to date. Wants to set me up for AVR and ascending aorta replacement in June. Because my ascending aorta needs to be replaced, a mini-sternotomy is off the table :-(
I was hoping I would be a candidate for a repair, Ozaki or may even Ross but he recommends replacement. Now, the question is which valve. The other question is "do I want to go all the way to Cleveland for a replacement". Duke is 3 hours away by car and Cleveland is 12. Duke was my second choice and I was thinking it would be more convenient for family. It wouldn't even be a decision if I was going for one of the valve sparing procedures but replacement seems a little more routine. My family would rather I be closer if I can get great care and a great result. A lot to think about. Thank you for checking on me Rob. I appreciate it!!!

Rob Sparling  Joey, fully understand! It is a tough trade-off. Glad to discuss further if you find yourself wanting to bounce ideas. Either way, we all support you! ❤️💪

Joey Hardee  Hey Rob! Thanks for checking on me. STILL waiting on my cardiologist to setup my consult with CC and Dr Roselli. Quite frustrating. I did get a call letting me know they are "working on it" and CC had all my records and scans and everything they requested so they "are just waiting to hear back from CC now". Surgeon I met with here did not think it was as urgent as my cardiologist seems to think, Valve is leaking more now than it was 2 years ago so better to move forward now than to wait. For now, just waiting to hear from CC and keeping up with my fellow heart warriors going through it now. Thanks again for checking on me. Looks like you are doing great! That's awesome!

Rob Sparling  Joey, I understand. When I was waiting for call backs it was frustrating, too! Once I got to a cardiologist at CC it accelerated and once I got to my surgeon’s office it was two phone calls before we settled on a date. During that call it was clear from the scheduling nurse that she was not told I was an urgent situation. So they do rank the priority when scheduling. Stay vigilant and stay loose! It will come together.

Joey Hardee  Thanks Dan, I really appreciate that! Hope that recovery keeps getting better for you. You are in my daily prayers, as is Rob and many others here.

Thanks Rob - Part of me wants it to go slow :-)) …..But then I think how much I need to get it fixed and the fact that its inevitable and it won't heal itself and I just want to get it behind me so I can go to work on recovering. I'm sure things will really get moving once I have my consult with Dr Roselli. I will definitely keep you updated. Thanks again for the encouragement and inspiration!

Joey Hardee  Hey Bob! Thank you! Sorry I have been away from the community for a bit. So much craziness with the holidays. All is well. Going in to have my aorta measured on Feb 8. Will see what they say. I feel OK, Part of me wants to go ahead and have it done and part of me is still a bit apprehensive. :-)
How have you been doing? I will check to see if you have posted updates. I literally just logged back in for the first time since probably just after Thanksgiving and saw the message from you. Hope you are continuing to get better and better. Your experience is certainly an inspiration for me. Thanks a lot for checking up on me. I really appreciate it!!
Joey

Bob Gillespie  Doing pretty well, the surgery is a distant memory even at 5 months post op so all of the build up anxiety wasn't necessary, HA! Just keep taking good care of yourself, lots of fruits, vegetables and walking will make any future surgery less taxing. God Bless!

Joey Hardee  Thank you, Bob. I plan on it. I am working hard these days career-wise and my wife now needs shoulder surgery on BOTH shoulders. Dr. Stewart, after viewing my scans, said I am in the low risk category for dissection. Just have to keep the BP under control. I may wait until my wife recovers from at least one of the shoulder surgeries to consider my surgery. Much will hinge on my aorta measurement which I moved from 2/8 to 2/19.

Joey Hardee  :-)) Excellent! You'll have to make the trip to Columbia, SC next Fall and tailgate with us. By then, I imagine I will be well into my recovery too.

Joey Hardee  Thank you, Sandy! I am about 3 1/2 hours from Duke and 9 1/2 from Mt. Sinai, where I just sent my scans to Dr. Allan Stewart :-)
I may still send my scans to a surgeon at Duke. I am waiting to consult with Dr. Stewart to see what the post-op will look like there. I like Dr. Stewarts philosophies and the fact that he deals with athletes because I really want the best outcome to get back to training.
Have you felt any symptoms at all? I have occasional palpitations and heart pounding.

Thank you again!

Sandy Laine  Good Luck with Dr. Stewart!

I'm not really sure if I have any symptoms. Like you mentioned - I had chocked a lot of things up to aging, UNTIL I got the aneurysm diagnosis and started reading up on things. BUT - when I mentioned what I thought were symptoms to the cath doc - he said they weren't related - so just not sure. I haven't been given activity restrictions, though, both surgeons I've met with told me only to avoid anything that causes blood pressure spikes (don't lift anything I have to hold my breath for), but otherwise I should just keep on keepin' on, and schedule surgery within the next few months.

I hope things move quickly for you and you are able to get through this and back to your active life very soon. The surgeon I met with at Duke (sent records there based on Marie's suggestion) had about a 6-8 week lead time, Cleveland could have scheduled within a week or two (that was in June - and I just wasn't ready :)). And, just FYI if it matters, Duke and Norfolk Sentara said no driving for four weeks, Cleveland said no driving for six weeks.

GOOD LUCK!

Craig Wise  Joey, I am 54-yr old very athletic. Had bicuspid valve. AVR in May. I was training hard up to 3 months before surgery. Dr said to stop. So I did. I also had the heart pounding that began to get more frequent. It was the only symptom that convinced me that I needed surgery. Best of luck to you.

Joey Hardee  Thank you Sandy!!! I will be very analytical :-) I have already narrowed the valve to 2 choices (both bio). Really just need the facility and the surgeon now. Appreciate your insights very much!

Hey Craig. Thanks! I read the symptoms from different people and mostly its shortness of breath after running a very short distance and even loss of consciousness when it gets severe. You are the first person I have found that shares my heart pounding symptom. Its interesting because even before I was told to stop with the training, I could run 3 or 4 miles, come home and carry a case of water up some stairs and the minute I put that down, my heart would pound for 6-10 beats. I have had the pounding in other situations that surprised me, too. I often wonder if that is a symptom of stenosis or regurgitation. I don't have "shortness of breath". My docs told me I could walk but don't get heart rate above 120. I went out and walked last night at as fast a pace as I could on a pretty hilly course and felt great. Heart palpitated a little early in the walk but then I was fine for the rest of it. 2.1 miles in 30 minutes so a little over 4 mph pace. So badly wanted to run! Heart rate did get to 132 (oops).

Once you are over your setback (very sorry about that, by the way and praying for healing), do you feel like you will be able get back to training and have the potential to get in as good a shape as you were before?