John's Guestbook

Hi John, Like you, I had a recent aortic valve replacement. My surgeon told me that, if the replacement valve failed at some future date, the procedure could be done again. He said that valve design and surgical techniques are improving all the time and that we valve patients could look forward to living good long lives. Live long, strong, happy and healthy! Brenda Kelly

Hi John, just saw your post pardon my delay in my response. I'm feeling fantastic and the ticker is working 100%. I'm exercising daily swimming and walking and have a lot of energy and stamina. How are you feeling? Hope all is well on your end. Let me know if you need anything.

Hey my friend? How are you doing? Hope all is well on your end. Just came back from a 2 week ski trip. No issues with my valve felt great. Hope you are recovering smoothly!

Hi John, i have been following some of your comments lately. Here is the take! I am almost 3 months PO/AVReplacement and minor repair on my mitral valve for a tiny aneurism. Right off the bat......physically i am doing great, like my rehab program, my work outs at the gym and all. Mentally and psychologically less so and that's God's truth. What are these symptoms ? A little depression, really awful thoughts with no semblance of logic, ruminating over and over stuff that probably will never happen in a million years, bad insomnia ect ect. I have been on a mild antidepressant and a sleeping pill because when i came home from the hospital i couldn't sleep at all. Now what i hear can cause these after(side) effects on us are some of the pain medication that we were given, the heart-lung machine can indeed cause (some problems) it's a machine............right !!!!!!!!!! Other things worth mentioning would be perhaps the beta-blocker medication that some of us are on, could cause depression as well.Now the best advice as we all know is first and foremost to speak to our doctors and let them know how we feel, this is indeed sound advice. On the other hand as you can attest John you're NOT ALONE !!!. I truly believe that doctors & surgeons can do great things nowadays, and definitely some of them should be praised for their skills and expertise. However in my personal experience and in my opinion OHS is and remains a very dangerous and though operation. It's HARD, it's HEAVY, LONG RECOVERY, lots of ups and downs and lots of headaches !!!!!!!!!! Apart of the few lucky ones that go through O/H/S without a scratch (sort of speak) could anyone else deny this really ????????? John i hope this is of some help to you, it's not to make anyone more worried. It is what it is GUYS. THANK YOU................Happy recovery to all. pinocorreale@hotmail.com

Just follow their instructions. From everything I've heard, and including my own experience, the infection rate is very low. There are all kinds of tips by professionals on youtube clips that you might not think about otherwise. For instance, when riding in a car the first few weeks, sit in the back. Reason: if the front seat airbag activates, it'll smack right into your incision. Best, Artie

Hello there John...Hope all goes well with your surgery today and on schedule. I hope when you wake you have an overwhelming joy of knowing that the surgery is over and up next is your "healing time". Saying a prayer for you this morning that you're starting your recovery soon.

Hi John, When I was pre-op, I found all the instructions "too much" too. So many things to remember, like sit in the back seat of a car so the front airbags won't get activated right on your incision. In fact, there's a youtube clip by a nurse giving tons of instructions and all a mile a minute. I couldn't keep up with her. Then I had my operation--an aortic valve replacement and a mitral valve repair (2 for 1, ha ha ha)--and guess what? Everything fell into place. I just took things easy, listened to what my caregivers told me and just went with it. So don't let things overwhelm you. So many people have gone through this and come out fine. You won't be the exception. My biggest fun thing to do these days (I'm 5 months post-op now) is get out my spirometer and blow it sky high (well, almost), whereas the first week or two I could barely get the gizmo anywhere significant. I also love showing my incision to dinner guests while they're eating, ha ha ha. You may not believe this, but there are a lot of fun things you can do from this operation. Day by day and week by week, you'll discover them for yourself. And the biggest fun thing of all is to reassure people here who are about to face the same thing themselves.

Welcome to the community John, I had minimal invasive surgery 3 months ago with Dr. Joseph Lamelas to replace my aortic valve and root and the surgery itself was a complete success. He is truly a gifted Dr. and gave me another chance of life. He and his team will take good care of you. Just go in with a positive attitude!! Other Drs. at Mt. Sinai nickname him" God" because he truly gives you another chance of life. I consulted 2 other top cardiologist and I didn't feel confident with their methods. My surgery was on Friday and got home Wednesday I was 4 days in the hospital for heart valve surgery. I had no complications, no Afib, no infection, no fevers and my surgical scar is about 2 inches right side of my chest. My last cardio didn't show any leakage. My cardiologist was flabbergasted on the work he did in my heart. Recovery is going excellent. I was in great shape going into surgery other than my leaky valve. But no joke my recovery has been fantastic. I could not be happier with this surgeon and the treatment I received at Mt. Sinai. You are in expert hands and you have truly made the right decision.