Lori's Photos

Jacky Taylor  I hope you keep gaining strength and healing well. Please can you tell me how many tubes etc you have coming in and going out when you wake after surgery. I am being told different answers.
Thank you so much - Jacky Taylor

Melissa Houser  Congrats - BTW, I saw your pics and noted you and I have the same heart surgeon. Your surgery is May 4, and mine is May 23. I just talked to Dr. Najm by phone today and peppered him with a lot of questions :)

Lori Phillips  Thanks Catie B, Adam Pick, & Melissa Houser! Initially, losing the first 30 lbs was not hard. A doctor angered me by his written report and I was DETERMINED never to receive such a nasty letter again. Losing weight is a trick of the mind. I just made my mind up and chose what I ate and drank and exercised. Then the WORST thing happened. I saw this doctor again and he apologized! Haha! So the next 30 or so pounds were difficult. BTW, the doctor was NOT the surgeon Hani Najm. HE IS AWESOME! I have no worries with my heart in his hands. You too, Melissa! That is so cool we have the same surgeon. We should text/talk! Thanks Adam Pick for creating this much needed site! ♡ Thoughts and prayers to all of you pre & post surgery ♡

Eddie Patton  Mine too. Got to meet the whole band once. Still make every show when the cone to town. Makes me feel like a young pup again!

Lori Phillips  Oh my goodness! My husband is the die hard KISS fan. His first concert at age 12 was KISS! He's been hooked ever since! Adam... for his 50th birthday we all went together and bought my husband Jim the Axe Bass! That's good considering he can play the bass! He's trying to teach himself regular acoustic guitar now. I'll try and get a pic up of it!

Emily Rowley  I hope your Appointment with him went well. It's great you were able to get a photo with him, he looks like a cheerful Doctor 🤓 I hope you are well sweetie 😊 xox

Lori Phillips  P.S. - Never take a picture when the light source is BEHIND your subject. The light source should be behind the photographer! Oh well! We were excited to meet him and didn't have our photographic skills with us! Lol

Emily Rowley  Wow you got a photo with him 👍🏼 Did he mind? I got a photo with my Surgeon recently. Don't worry there are many photos I look back on and think oh no not good light or position etc...

Emily Rowley  Aww he does look like a very sweet caring Doctor. He has quite a few nice pens in his pocket...hehe 😁

Lori Phillips  Thanks Petey and Emily! It WAS a blessing of a book that my sister made. Absolutely incredible! Made me feel so loved and positive!

Kim Murray  Have you had your surgery yet? I have severe mitral stenosis, and they told me hete in Cincinnati I needed to have both my mitral valve and aortic valves replaced, I went to cleavland because I actually wanted to meet the surgeon before I let him crack open my chest, needless to say I too had to go through tons of test, and also met with a cardiologist before meeting my surgeon and he suggested trying the balloon valvoplasty first, so I'm scheduled on June 30th with dr kapoda who has worked with rheumatic heart disease extensively , which is great because it's rare, I'm telling you this only because I was told by other doctors that my valve is to bad for the balloon procedure, ask if you could meet with dr kapoda, it might be worth it.

Lori Phillips  No.... I haven't had my surgery yet. But I've had a years worth of tests at UC Hospital I met with a pulmonary cardiologist (who misdiagnosed me with pulminary hypertension)realized his mistake and sent me to a cardiologist, who then did the usual battery of heart test. He diagnosed me with severe tricuspid valve regurgitation. Then I saw a surgeon the who gave me the same diagnosis. But I have been told by a few doctors (Even one @ UC) that they would never have any heart surgery @UC as they do not have a strong heart program. So tomorrow, 7 days before I head up to Cleveland I'm going to see a Doctor at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. They have an excellent reputation for matters of the (literal) heart! 😄 So he'll be my 'home' doctor. I have a friend who swears by him (Dr. Chung). So I think (hope) I've got it covered. Have you decided to have the surgery in June? Are you confident you've got the right diagnosis? ♡

Lori Phillips  Kim Murray... but that's a good question to ask Christ and Cleveland so thank you. You know, I've been told Cleveland Clinic is the BEST place I could be, no question. A West Chester doctor, U.S. News Reports, and many friends have told me the same, so I'm confident that when they go in there and it's worse or different than the tests showed,they'll know what to do! But I'll cross my fingers and toes for good measure! 😊 And lots of prayers are going up for me, so I feel blessed!

Tanja Duffey  Go to clinical trials.gov and look for CorMatrix ECM Tricuspid Valve Replacement and then call Dr Eric Roselli at the CC ASAP for more information!!

Emily Rowley  Wow, hopefully it doesn't go in your house! We are expecting flooding and sereve storms here but nothing happening yet, mostly other parts. How's your flooding situation now?

Lori Phillips  Oh wow Emily. The floods have receeded! We had a small amount of rain today, but no flooding. 5 yrs ago we moved higher up. Also, we are in a new subdivision and we had our house built. We made sure they water proofed our house tight. But I'm afraid some had water in their base- ment. We've had floods before. So hopefully people were prepared. We had a doozy when I was about seven! I was in the newspaper! Lol!

Emily Rowley  That is good no flooding, is the water in the picture receeding? What's the building and neighbourhoods like over your way? Now new houses built here are done poorly and cheaply (not cheap to buy) except if building your own. Oh no, that could damage the structure. Wow, I would love to hear about that, do you still have the Newspaper? ☺ I don't understand why alot of people build in flood plain areas well aware of this with signs everywhere and are close by the River. I wonder if thousands of years ago all the land was lakes. I don't know if you have heard of the Snowy Hydro, but they had to flood a town for it.

Lori Phillips  More flooding last night. Not bad. But a city council meeting has residents and businesses upset saying City could have prevented this. (This isn't our first rodeo... at least when it comes to flooding! Lol? 🏊)

Emily Rowley  You're welcome ☺ It is great you have her support, she looks like one of your biggest fans and we are all here too for you 💛💙💜💚

Denise Campbell  Isn't it great to have a good man. I've got one too and it shows us how blessed we are. Good for you Lori. He will be your advocate as you go through your surgery.

Denise Campbell  Beautiful picture. You sure have been through a lot. I'm so sorry. I will starting putting you in my prayers. You will get through this. This is a great blog for support.

Lori Phillips  Thank you Lise! Nowadays I don't focus on my bad features or I'd be bumbed out all day! Go with what ya got and don’t be shy! We all have body issues..."I wish I were thinner!" If I waited to have my picture taken at my ideal weight, it may never be taken! LoL! Ya gotta love yourself the way you are. You can still work towards your goals. 😉 (Actually, that was for me! But if anyone derived benefit, that's even better!) 😊

Emily Rowley  You look gorgeous, well presented and with a lovely heart 💗 Wise words of positivity. With the falling out of hair it could be due to surgery/anneasthic/illness as I too noticed mine falling out easier. I know our hair shreds+dead skin cells fall out on a cycle then new growth happens. I use to get my hair layered alot but then I would end up with split ends.