Luke's Guestbook

Scott Courson  I'm 49 and needing a replacement aortic valve due to aortic regurgitation. I am really struggling with the tissue/mechanical valve decision.  My doctors are pushing me to mechanical.  I am terrified of taking coumadin and what that means for life.  Will I still be able to ride rollercoasters? (I doubt it). I work on a farm and already bruise easily I cannot imagine how many times I get hit in a day. LOL With machinery, etc.  The sound of dripping water can keep me awake at night how will a mechanical valve do me with sleep? Can someone with a mechanical valve help to alleviate my worries. 

Luke Rodriguez  Scott, I have the On-x valve and ascending aortic prosthesis.  I take Warfarin daily.  After a little over a year I can tell you I have zero changes to my lifestyle.  I guess the biggest change for me is having a tourniquet and products that stop bleeding in my car.  An EMT friend said EVERYONE should carry items like that in their car, think of it like having jumper cables.  Just in case.

 I have not made any changes to my lifestyle, I hike, camp, work out....in fact I dropped a weight on my foot and it bruised but not any worse than if I were not on warfarin.  

You will have to check your INR, a measure of platelets in your blood.  At first I was going in to a clinic but then got my own INR meter and I do it myself from home. I take a snapshot of the measure and send to my cardiologist once every two weeks, easy.  I take a pill every day but was doing that already with my statin so its not a big deal for me.

Yes, in a quiet place you can hear a ticking sound of the valve but....I am hard of hearing and sleep with a fan.  With my hearing aids out, I cannot hear it in a quiet room, throw in fans and I never hear it.....but when I do, it is a bit unsettling. 

I think the bottom line is, I opted for mechanical because my surgeon was leaning heavily in that direction, and, I will wear out before the parts.  I was 57 when I had the surgery. 

I cannot say mechanical is better or worse, everyone is different but for me, it fits my lifestyle which is NOT by any means sedentary.  If I am not in the gym, I am on a mountain hiking and if not there, I'm with my wife sipping wine.  And yes, you can drink alcohol if you are on warfarin.  It has no impact on INR.  But certain foods do impact it.  Best thing about warfarin is you don't have to change your diet to fit the drug, you change the dose to fit your diet.  

Oh...some things to consider, the only over the counter med for pain you can have is tylenol.  No aspirin or ibuprophen.  While I have some aches and pains, tylenol usually handles that.  If not, hydrocodone and many rx pain meds are fine.  
You have to be careful with antibiotics too.  Some spike your INR and some have zero impact.  Your doctor knows which to prescribe so first thing I tell to any new doctor is I am on blood thinners, what kind and what dose. 

To summarize, a year out and I am very happy with my surgical outcome and drug regimen. Best of luck.

Barry Brasseaux  I agree with Luke.  Have had my St. Jude Mechanical valve for over 35 years and have been on Warfarin.  It works great.

Scott Courson  Thank you Luke and Barry both for the feedback on your experience! It is one thing to discuss this with family who haven't had to go through this but it's very informative coming from the subject matter experts!!!

Judy Dromgoole  Hi, I’m almost 5 weeks post mitral valve repair DiVinci and still very tired and lethargic.  I have a lot of right breast and back pain around shoulder blade - just wondering if this is common and how long it may last 

Deena Z  Back and shoulder discomfort super common.  The right breast pain is probably from the robotic entry, which I did not have. Others that did can chime-in.
Hang in there. Takes months to heal!

Luke Rodriguez  Thank you for the well wishes, going to get my new parts at the body shop tomorrow and will be better than ever. Cannot wait to take my first steps with my new gear. I feel only peace , confidence and assurance. Jesus is the answer to all of life's worries and problems. If God is for me, this stronghold will fall. Looking forward to getting back to my abundant life.