About Me (In My Own Words)
This is my husbands story. Last year,2022, his cardiologist told us that he would need an Aortic Valve replacement. Because of his age, 62, he would be having the regular open heart procedure rather than the TAVR procedure. We made all the arrangements for presurgery testing and arrangements with our daughter and son in law to stay with them in July of 2023. We are retired and live in our 40 ft rv and travel the country, so we needed a home base for recovery. In January of this year we were in Rockport Texas for the winter when he began getting very symptomatic, shortness of breath, unable to sleep, dizzy, unable to walk any distance. I called his doctor and he told me to bring him back to Ohio. We flew back and he went to his appointment. After labs they discovered he was massively anemic. He had a 7 hemeglobin instead of 14. He was immediately admitted, transfused, and tested over and over again to determine where the bleed was. They finally diagnosed a massive GI bleed and took care of that. His surgery was scheduled for April but they were nervous because of the anticoag agents used in surgery and after. He used 7 units in surgery but came through. After 10 days in CICU and 5 days in stepdown, he came home. Only to go back in 2 days later because he was in afib. Five more days in the hospital but he came home again. This time he was fine. It's been 6 weeks and he starts his rehab in 2 days. He feels great and is looking forward to getting back on the road, So am I.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Sioux Falls
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My surgery date is:
April 13, 2023
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Matt Henn
