Theresa's Guestbook

Theresa! I don't know about a mechanical valve! Do you want to be on coumadin for the rest of your life? Or on any drug for that matter! You will always be listening to your mechanical valve and wondering if it is going to keep opening and closing, although I am sure it will. I am 71, have a bovine valve, since Oct 2013. I am off all drugs for the past 2 and a half years! I use proper diet and a lot of exercise and my blood pressure, heat rate, echos, ekgs, all normal. I eat healthy foods, use garlic, fish oil and flax meal with CoQ10, ASA, vitamins and minerals. I play a lot of 4.0 hard tennis four times a week, ride my trek and hike. My valve is working great as long as I don't interfere with it! Look, the medical community is making great strides in valve replacement. A ninety year old down the road just had his valve replaced through the groin. The heart surgeons have been able to do this for quite some time, they just couldn't get the old valve out. Now they can! Think what progress has been made and what it will be like 15 to 20 years down the line. I suggest that it will be an outpatient operation. In and Out! Right after I had my valve put in I met a lady who was with her daughter having a hot dog at costco. My wife told them that I just had a new valve put in. The older lady replied 'Oh my husband had that operation years ago! He was a jockey! He is not with me now and has passed on to heaven. Oh great I thought, I better clarify this with her as I felt my anxiety increase. Oh, he passed away from Rheumatoid Arthritis 25 years after his valve surgery. HE never had an issue with his valve and won a lot of races too! Allow me to buy your hot dog madam, I said, smiling! My goal was to get rehabilitated as fast as I could. I exercised everyday, changed my diet drastically, and got off all the pharmaceuticals. I was back out on the tennis courts in 3 months and riding my harley to Sturgis in 6 months! My valve is a bovine tissue valve, the best one at the time I went in for surgery. It is doing just great ever since I stopped worrying about it! Anxiety is one of the biggest killers today! Post heart surgery is a great opportunity for anxiety to get a grip on the patient. It is a simple case of mind over matter! The valve is made to work is concert with the heartbeat and it works just fine as long as anxiety doesn't take over! It also leads to depression and that can lead to death. Get a tissue valve, the best and latest, recommended by your surgeon!!!