Tammy's Guestbook

Tammy Pilcher  Hello heart sister! Elaine, it is so good to see your post this morning! I’m so happy to hear you are doing well! I’m doing well and also so very grateful for 6 years post-op! I don’t post much anymore, because it gets harder to remember everything about that time with each year that passes. I do check in now and then to see if there are any updates from any others from 2014. It’s always so nice to see our heart family doing well! I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year! God Bless You!

Tammy Pilcher  Pamela, you are very welcome and yes, there is a Comfort Suites across the street from the hospital that many patients and families stay. They will even arrange for a shuttle to take you and your family to the hospital entrance the morning of your surgery. I did have open chest, my surgeon called it a hemi- sternotomy. We did travel by car and I did fine. The hospital told us to stop every hour and walk around for a few minutes, so it just added an extra hour to our trip home. I didn’t really have much pain at all. I had more of a discomfort than pain after I got home between my shoulders in my back. All I took was extra strength Tylenol and it worked fine. If I can help further, let me know. You are right, He will see you through this! Psalms 28:7. God bless, Tammy

Tammy Pilcher  Hi Elaine! It's so great to hear from you, heart sister!! I am still doing well, and absolutely rejoicing in our Saviour. You were a great blessing to me, too. I hope you are doing well and wish you a very Merry Christmas! In His love, Tammy

Tammy Pilcher  Hi Therese! I would be happy to answer any questions about my experience. Dr. Accola is wonderful! I feel so blessed to have found this incredible site before my surgery. Adam, his book, and all of the sweet people here helped me so much! I wrote a post in my journal about my surgery that might help, too. You are also welcome to email me at bearcreek64@yahoo. God bless, Tammy

Tammy Pilcher  Hey Enrique, it's so good to hear from you! I am doing well and will have my next echo in August. Hopefully it will also show all is well.:). I hope you are doing great, too! Thank you for your checking on me. God bless you, heart brother!

Enrique K  Great to hear from you Heart Sister, glad everything is going well for you. Things are going very well for me. I have not heard anything from you in a while so I thought I check in:). Take Care and keep in touch. Good luck with your echo.

Tammy Pilcher  Hey heart sister! It's so good to hear from you!! I'd love to get together while you're here. I just sent you an email.

Tammy Pilcher  Hi Louise, it is so good to hear from you! Thank you so much for your sweet note. I, too, think of you and so many others here that were great support for me as well. I am doing well and will have my next echo in August. I hope you are doing well, too! I still keep all of our heart family in my prayers. God bless you, heart sister!

Tammy Pilcher  Hey Kathleen, it's so good to hear from you! I know, over 2.5 years post op now is sometimes hard to believe! I'm so glad you are doing well. I am too and ever so thankful! It's good to hear you've found a great place to manage your care. I'll be keeping you in my prayers for continued great check ups! My next one is in August, but so far so good. God bless you heart sister!

Tammy Pilcher  Hi Carmen, I'm so glad you're going to meet Dr. Accola. I know you will really like him! I was so much more at peace with everything after meeting him and knowing he was going to do my surgery. My cardiologist is Dr. Charles Mayes with Sacred Heart Medical Group in Destin. He did my heart cath at Sacred Heart Emerald Coast, in Destin. I also had my echo and CT done in Destin. I took my echo, CT, and cath results with me to Orlando when I met Dr. Accola. My bicuspid aortic valve opening was at 0.39cm2, which is considered at the critical stage of stenosis. We met Dr. Accola for the first time on a Monday and he did my surgery on Friday that same week. I was so happy he was able to fit me in that fast! I don't know if you've had a chance to scan through my journal, but if you scroll back a ways you'll find the posts I did about our meeting him and a post detailing my surgery experience. I feel truly blessed to have had Dr. Accola and his team at Florida Hospital Orlando do my surgery. God is so good! I hope this helps and if I can answer anything else, let me know. Your heart sister, Tammy

Carmen P  Thanks Tammy. If I am reading my echo correctly (and that is a big if) , my aortic valve opening is 0.5cm2. Should I go to Orlando with plans to stay? Your opinion would be greatly appreciated. Not yet a heart sister, Carmen

Tammy Pilcher  You're very welcome, Carmen. We actually came back home that same day, because we didn't go prepared to stay. We got everything we needed done at home on Tuesday and went back to Orlando Wednesday. I had to have all my pre-op things done on Thursday at the hospital and spent the night at the hotel that's there on the hospital campus. They sent a shuttle to pick us up Friday morning to take us to the hospital for my surgery. They will give you all the information about that at Dr. Accola's office Monday. They are wonderful and will take really great care of you and your family. I don't know if you will be scheduled that soon, but you might want to go prepared just in case. I'm actually in Chattanooga today and about to leave the hotel for the day, but will check to see if you have any other questions tonight. You can also email me at bearcreek64@yahoo.com. God bless!

Tammy Pilcher  Thank you so much, John! You have always been an inspiration to me, too! I pray that you and your family also have a Happy, Healthy New Year! God bless you!

Tammy Pilcher  Hi Mark, I tried to post on your guestbook, but it wouldn't let me. So I'm going to answer here and hopefully you'll see it.

It's so good to hear from you! Yes, we would love to meet you and your family while you're in Destin. I haven't been checking in to the site as often as I did before, but did tonight and found your note. We are actually in Orlando now and are planning to go by the hospital tomorrow morning for the first time since my surgery (just to take the ICU staff a thank you gift). We were in Gainesville this weekend for our youngest son's graduation from the University of Florida and decided to come on down to Orlando since we were this close. I also want to go by Dr. Accola's office if they're open tomorrow. We will be home by tomorrow evening. Let me know when you'll be in our area and we'll make plans. Hope you're doing well! God bless!

Mark Schmitz  Hi Tammy. If you want to contact me through my email that would be great. It is: cruiser@dellsmoosejaw.com . It is through my business. Hope Dr. Accola was well. Glad to hear you are doing great!

Tammy Pilcher  Hi Sophia, I didn't experience the ache below the collarbone or hearing the pulse in my ears, but those symptoms may be more associated with mitral regurgitation instead of my problem of a BAV with stenosis. I'm sure patients with MR that see this will be able to help shed some light on this for you. I'm sorry I don't have answers for these particular questions, but will be glad to help, if I can, with any others you might have. Keeping you in my prayers, heart sister.

Donna Gavin  Hi Sophia, I had a mitral valve repair in June. I used to have the same ache below the collarbone, and sometimes it would radiate into my neck. It's gone now. I am assuming it was back pressure from the severe regurgitation. The lungs go all the way up to the collarbone. I also had some upper respiratory infections post-surgery, so that may have been part of it. My surgeon reassured me at the time that it was nothing, and now it's gone. Trust your surgeon, tell him/her or the nurse what's going on, and all will be fabulous!

Sophia Ridley  Thankyou Tammy and Donna for your responses.
Donna, I get the neck radiation too. You have put my mind to rest, thankyou. My mind can go into overtime with aches and pains, backache from sitting at my desk had me worried for weeks! I'll mention it today when I see the pre-op nurse. I was also interested to see your post regarding EDS, I've a relatively mild form of
EDS III (hypermobility + severe MVP) and will have a chat with the consultant about healing and the heart strings. My kidney scar is wide (it was 20yr ago and held together with staples!!), I'm not so bothered about my kidney one, but I would rather a neater one from OHS.

Donna Gavin  My EDS is relatively mild, also with hypermobility, scarring, and severe MVP. Because of the EDS, my surgeon decided to use a titanium plate with 8 screws, along with the 2 sets of sternum wires. My scar is very thin. I'll try to get a picture posted.

Tammy Pilcher  Hi Gregg, I chose a tissue valve for the same reasons you listed above. My surgeon explained the pros and cons of both, mechanical and tissue, and then he let me decide. I was 50 at that time and one of the pros for the tissue was the newer generation bovine valves are expected to possibly last 15 or 20 years. He said by then, it probably wouldn't require open heart to replace since TAVR was coming along so well. Meanwhile, as you said, I'll have maybe 15 or 20 years as normal as possible. I figure I'll decide on my next replacement depending on my overall health at that time and who knows by then what technology might have available. I hope this helps. God bless!

Doran Herritt  Along with what you already pointed out above remember a mechanical valve isn't guaranteed to last more than 25 years or so. Also when mechanicals fail they fail. Tissue valves tend to wear out so you can plan. The other thing that played into my decision is future surgery. We r both young. We could need who knows what surgery. I have a cyst I am following on my kidney. I didn't want to be on Coumadin and have to get surgery. With all that said there are some new mechanicals out there that allow lower I rs, on-x is one, so with future development maybe less or no Coumadin will b needed.
Thx and prayers heading your way as you work through this.
Drn

Gregg Nissly  Thanks Tammy and Doran. Your comments and suggestions help a lot. I've decided to decide on or before November 17. My surgery is Dec 4.

Doran, you give me great hope as you are already posting away after only a few days post op. You've been a joy to follow.

Gregg

Lisa Heinen  I went with a Ross Procedure at 47 - I have recovered far better than anyone, including myself, were expecting. I also did not want to be on coumadin for numerous years - nor did I want to put the stress on my family that a tissue could wear out quicker the younger the patient. I agree with Tammy that the tissue valves are lasting much longer than what they used to and I'm hoping if I ever need a re-op that TAVR is an option - with mechanical even down the road this would not have been an option. I also agree with Doran - it scared me to think that with a mechanical - it could fail without warning signs. Good luck - we all have our reasons for which replacement valves we choose - all of which are incredible as they let us live!

Michael Marranca  Tammy, I'm a Cardiothoracic PA @ Mayo in AZ (for 28 years), I'm getting AVR/MVR here on 12/2...Mechanical On-X is the way to go if you're under 65, the tissue valve degen a lot faster on younger patients. Coumadin is not a big deal, and if its an AVR only, you can keep your INR 2-2.5

Michael Marranca  The other thing about a "valve in a valve" is your replacement will be a smaller one because of the annulus of the prev tissue valve

Tammy Pilcher  Michael, thank you so much for the information. I'm sure those trying to decide on valve choice will really appreciate your input, especially given your experience and knowledge. I've actually already had my surgery and will have to live ( I hope ) :-) with my decision. I'll keep you in my prayers for 12/2. Thanks again and God bless!

Tammy Pilcher  You're so welcome, Juju! If I can help answer any questions as you go through this, please let me know. You have found a heart family here that truly care about each other. Looking forward to hearing more of your story. God bless!

Tammy Pilcher  Enrique, thank you so much and it makes me so happy to know my surgery experience post was helpful. You are going to do great and soon have all of this behind you. We are so blessed to live in a time when these surgeries are not only possible, but have such great outcomes. Looking forward to hearing great news! God bless you!

Tammy Pilcher  Jacqueline, you're so welcome and thank you for sharing your experience with this beautiful painting, too! Yes, it is so amazing how God sends us the comfort and peace He knows we need just at the right time all the time! We are so blessed!
The reason I decided on the mini-sternotomy was because my wonderful surgeon, Dr. Kevin Accola, told me that I could have either the full or the mini ( he calls it a hemi). He said they both have the same healing time and it was mostly about scar placement. The mini would be 3 or 4 inches but a little higher on the sternum and the full would be longer but a little lower. I told him I would rather have a shorter incision even if it had to be a little higher. The funny thing is I don't think my scar is that high compared to the other scar pictures I've seen. You can see my scar picture in my journal. It is 3 inches and has healed very well with very little pain. I haven't put anything on it yet, because it hasn't bothered me and I don't think it looks bad. I actually like seeing it, because every time I see it I think about the blessing I've received. Also, it is amazing to me that my surgeon did my bicuspid aortic valve replacement as well as an aortic root enlargement with a Dacron patch in that little incision! I hope this helps and will be praying for God to give you the guidance and peace He has given me throughout this process. Let me know if I can help.
You heart sister, Tammy

Tammy Pilcher  Aww Terrie, thank you so much for your sweet post! There's no need to apologize for not responding sooner. I don't always find the comments or posts to me either until later. The mommy cat, Phoebe, just moved her kittens back home a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, one had passed a couple of weeks ago leaving her four. The remaining four are thriving and so cute. Since they live next door, we have always kind of shared Phoebe and our neighbor is planning to keep one of the kittens. We know we will probably "share" him as well, so my husband thinks that might be enough :-) . My sister Tina, who you probably remember posting for me during my surgery, is taking the other three! She lives out in the country and has a big barn, so they're going to be barn cats and have a great home too. Thanks again for always being so sweet and supportive to me and everyone here too! I hope you, Gary, Rylee, and Kat are having fun today! Love, Tammy

Tammy Pilcher  Thank you so much, Terrie! I forgot to mention in my post that I wore my "Survivor" T-shirt on one of our hikes. That morning when I put it on I actually thought about you riding your bike wearing yours! I got a thumbs up from a guy who looked about my son's age passing by on the trail. He said, "Good job, that's awesome!" as he passed by! He made my day! Thanks again for your kindness! :-)

Tammy Pilcher  Thank you Peter! I'm feeling very good. I can't believe it's been nine and a half months already! I hope you're doing well too! God bless!

Tammy Pilcher  Thank you, heart brother Steve, and God bless you for sharing your testimony! You are living proof of the power of prayer! You are so right, what an awesome God!

Tammy Pilcher  Lynne, thank you so much for your kind words and I am so very sorry this has happened yet again! I can only imagine what you're going through right now. Please know I am praying for you to not have to go through this disappointment again. Feel free to vent anytime you need to and please let us know when you get another date. You are not alone in this Lynne. You have this heart family to help you and most importantly you have our Heavenly Father watching over you. As frustrating as I know it must be, I can't help but believe there is a reason that only God knows why this wasn't the right date. I'm praying the next date will be the right one for you to have your surgery and you can finally have this waiting done! Sending you love and hugs!! Your heart sister, Tammy

Tammy Pilcher  You're very welcome, Mary. It is wonderful to have you as my heart sister in Christ also. God bless you!

Tammy Pilcher  Thank you so much, Jackie! I will continue to keep Duane in prayer! It is so sweet of you to let us know! God bless y'all!