Adam's Heart Valve Journal

Stay positive all! It’s not always easy but it will get better over time. Just focus on getting better every day. Happy to share my experience with anyone that wants to talk through any of it. I’m 16-week post-op mechanical mitral valve. 36 years old. I for sure have youth on my side but having life-changing surgery is never without it’s challenges. I feel fortunate. Absolute best wishes to all of you in this journey. You will be surprised at what you can handle. Humans are naturally resilient. Process it all one day at a time and be patient with your recovery. And massive thanks to Adam Pick for building this community. It’s been a huge help for me. Take Care All!

My wife was my biggest supporter in the hospital. Very fortunate to have a source of laughter during a tough time.

Still on the recovery road but starting to feel a little closer to normal. Had a run of Tachycardia (SVT 200+ bpm) 10-days ago that put me in the ER. Not fun but evidently not life threatening. They put me on metropolol finally and that seems to stabilize my rate. My heart rate at rest is slowly coming down currently in the low 80s. Hoping to get it back down to my original rate of 68. All in all I’m feeling pretty fortunate at the 6-week mark. I tend to walk 7-10k steps per day. Can now play golf again and pick-up my kids thanks to the minimally invasive procedure. I tend to sleep a decent 7-hours a night and can finally sleep on my side again!!!! I’m saying all this not to brag but just to let all of you know that time really does heal. Whether your recovery time is 6-weeks or 12-weeks or more you really will feel better and “back to normal” with time. Im still waiting for “normal” but now at least I can see glimpses of what normal will look like. Life will be different forever but not so different that I won’t be able to do the things I enjoy. My cardiologist cleared me to play golf again, go camping again, pick up my kids, etc. Light at the end of the tunnel!! Hope the best for all of you in this process. Please reach out if needed.

Readmitted to the hospital with a low INR. Basically hanging out here for 2-3 days. INRs are tricky especially in the beginning. Since I was here they did an echocardiogram and a CT scan to make sure the low INR didn’t create any problems with the new valve. Waiting on those results. Watching a lot of Netflix today. I am still having regular (but manageable) light headedness when walking...like I just stepped off a boat. I’m only on Tylenol and an evening Adivan to help with sleeping. The clicking of the valve is loud and constant but less irritating than I thought it would be.

I’ve been home for 4-days after my mechanical mitral valve replacement and am just using Tylenol now for pain control. More than 48-hours without opiates. However I’m only sleeping 4-5 hours / night and have a heartbeat that is steadily rising each day. Resting rate today is 99 bpm. I also have a wobbly light-headed feeling when I’m up walking around. No shortness of breath, still managing 4,000 - 5,000 steps / day but not a great feeling. Does anyone have suggestions for this? Is this normal? When can I expect it to subside? My docs seem unconcerned. They did not put me on Metoporol post-op due to a minor 1st degree AV block. Wish you all the best. This is not easy but I feel fortunate for where I’m at. Any info on the above is helpful. Thank - Adam