authur's Journal

Soggy Rodent  I couldn't imagine flying from India back to Zim after surgery. U r amazing!
I was blessed to have visited ur country back in 2002. It sounds like u have the same beautiful heart of the people I met and stayed with... May ur heart continue to grow stronger my friend :)

authur ruwona  Thank yu friends i lov yu all yu support was amazing ..
@soggy Rodent thanks so much my friend the trip was long but excitement of seeing my kids again gave me a lot of courage ...am so humbled by yu words truely we try all best to be the warm arms of africa to our visitors we generaly love visitors and we strive to be hospitable as much as we can as a country thank yu for yu kind words much appreciated one love my friend ...
I believe friendship formed here is un breakable its a bond held through pain and suffering to victory God s great ....

Soggy Rodent  It was an honor for me. I am a whitewater kayaker so I went to Zim for the Zambezi. I did two one-day trips and an eight-day expedition. My guides were truly wonderful people with beautiful, open hearts . They did so much with so little, as only resourceful people can... I don't really remember any of the rapids but, even after all of these years, I remember the people very well. We even stopped at a smuggler's camp and those people were kind to us. Truly amazing!
I wish u the best, my friend, and I will watch for ur jounal postings so I can support ur recovery journey.
Sending big love ur way :)

Catie B  Authur, there can be a variety of pains but they shouldn't be excruciating. They should be managing pain for you with medication. I hope you can see your doctor and get some help with this. Sleep is important for healing. I'm sorry to hear you're suffering and hope you can get checked.

Barbara Wood  Authur, I had the numbness, burning, vibrating feeling in my upper chest, under the collar bones- it was much better when clothing didn't touch it, I wore v neck tee shirts for that reason. But I did not have bad pain & I agree with Catie, this should be run by your doctor. I hope you feel better soon, do let us know how it goes!

authur ruwona  thank my friends if yu dont mind 1 week after surgery what type medicational drgs were yu taking names will help to compare to what i have....

Barbara Wood  I was given a prescription for tramadol for pain but I never took it. I used extra strength Tylenol if I felt I needed to take something.

Marie Myers  I was on a baby aspirin, a beta blocker, and I mostly took acetaminophen for pain. I was prescribed hydrocodone for pain but rarely used it. Hope you start to feel better soon.

Catie B  At that time, I had acetaminophen for pain, lasix, potassium, plus Amiodorone and warfarin because of afib. Author, with your mechanical valves, you will need to take anticoagulant for life.

authur ruwona  Thank my friends this so helpful from my list it seems an unending number of tablet my own understanding is maybe some are reacting against the other take a look at my list am taking daily different times } DIGOXIN 0. 25MG
CALAPTIN 20MG
LASIX 20MG
LASILACTONE 20/50mg
PAN D 1
ULTRACET 50MG
CEFTUM 500MG
LEVOFLOX 500MG
FEFOL Z 500MG
SYRUP CREMAFFIN PLUS 300MG
ACITROM 2MG
ECOSPRIN 75MG
METALAR XR 25MG

what do yu think of taking all these drugs daily i know not much about medicine....

authur ruwona  Will be seeng the doctor this afternoon to find out hw come the drugs are making me worse than better...

Marie Myers  Glad you are seeing the doctor. He can answer all your questions about how long you will be on these Meds.

Nikki Mann  I had a mechanical MVR Replacement on the 6th Dec 2017.During post-Op in hospital,apart from needing a blood transfusion & problems getting my INR levels at their target,i was progressing great.Walking none stop all over the hospital as soon as i was allowed.My pain levels were bearable with Endone(Oxycodone).
I was discharged on the 15th Dec.The 1st week i was ok.But since then,im in absolute agony(and i have a good high pain threshold too because of a chronic back & hip injury).
The pain levels would definitely be a 9-10(even making me cry,which is not like me).
The pain is in my chest/sternum,also i cant raise my arms,still cant take my own top off without help.Also very bad headaches,terrible neck pain,even my bloody glands&ears hurt & every now & then i get deep pain in my left chest which burns & affects my left arm too.Im unable to bend forward or backwards because all the pain rushes to my neck,glands etc.im still having to sleep(which is rare too) sitting up.
PLEASE PLEASE CAN ANYBODY SUGGEST WHAT MAY BE WRONG?
I know something isnt right.I was rushed back to hospital 1 day because of the chest pain,burning etc.But they did all the checks on my heart which were ok.My INR levels are always low eg today 1.6 the hospital gave me Clexane.
Also my INR levels are only being monitored 3days a week & my GP seems to be geguesstimating my dosage by telling me to just take 4mg daily!!!!
P.S Im in Australia.
Again,can somebody help me please because i feel like im actually getting worse still everyday & think im going to actually die!!!!

Marie Myers  Nikki- I think some of what you are experiencing is normal for so early in your post op course. I could not bend forward or back at that point or reach over my head. I would suggest maybe you are trying to do too much too soon... Let your body be your guide. It is very early in your recovery, so take it easy...A check in With your surgeon may allay some of your fears. I was also a little weepy the first few weeks at home. I think it is all part of the huge trauma that your body has just been through. I wish you peace, and a solid recovery!

authur ruwona  Thank yu my friends am im surely in recovery side its exciting and bumby sometimes .....
Help pliz those who had passed through dvr mechanical (33 meditronic mitral valve and 24 meditronic aortic valve my question is after surgery been given several medication to take its becoming so so painful the drugs include blood thinner acitrom 2mg i am having extreme pain my is being crushed by 2 trains numbness on breast area and a sense of vibrating sensation burning feeling dry throat last night was just as painful i could not sleep it was excrutiating pain up to now

Rita Savelis  Happy that your surgery is over, but So sorry you are feeling pain. It is still early after surgery for you. Let your doctors know how you feel and hopefully you will be given medication to manage your pain. It can be very difficult to sleep and to cope with the discomfort for days, weeks after surgery. It takes time to recover, especially with double valve surgery. I am hoping you will begin to feel less pain and discomfort soon. I certainly can relate to your analogy of "crushed by 2 trains". It's hard. It's all hard. And then it slowly gets better. Take care.

Rose Madura  Great news! God will never fail. Best wishes. Please let us know how the surgery goes. Keep us posted on your progress.

Catie B  Arthur, that is outstanding news! Praising God with you and for the blessings on your life! May He give you an awesome surgery and recovery.

authur ruwona  The absence of facilities equipped to provide adequate prevention and treatment makes rheumatic fever the leading cause of cardiovascular diseases observed in children and teenagers in Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in the age group 5 to 15 years. Current estimates for cardiovascular diseases in Africa stand at 300,000 deaths every year

Phyllis Petersen  One of my father's brothers died as an adolescent of rheumatic fever here, but that was a long time ago. Most people in the USA now can be treated quickly and successfully, but we forget that there are still many people in the world who do not have that advantage. I look forward to seeing more about your journey.

authur ruwona  thank yu Phyllis very true its a disaster in africa unfortunately there is completely less awareness of such fatal disease its so unfortunate that a condition that can be treated if diagnosed ealier with simple anti- biotics is left to cost large amounts of money later in life that is if yu fortunate like me to survive to tell the story ,i am so inspired by how europe has step up and face this fatal condition head on its not surprising that its now very rare in europe .i salute the organisation called emergency led by legend the humanitrian activists and ant war campaigner DR GINO STRADA he has done a lot in helping the siatiation in africa though he can not do everything but he does his part with support from people and organisation across africa .
my point will be this acquired heart disease should be eliminated by awareness and earlier diagnosis.........

Barbara Wood  That's a tough choice Arthur. There are 2 schools of thought on it; wait until it becomes severe & symptomatic, or go in early before it reaches that stage. My cardiologist took the wait & see approach - I waited close to a year before it hit severe & I had afib. Then the operation was scheduled for 4 months later.
It all worked out well for me. It's so stressful & worrisome waiting it out, I wanted it done sooner too. My cardiologist said that open heart surgery is so major, many docs can't justify sending a patient in for it if that person has no symptoms & their condition is not worsening.
Will you know beforehand who your surgeon will be? That's a good person to weigh in on it. It's a dilemma...many positive thoughts & prayers sent your way - keep us posted please.

authur ruwona  thank yu so much Barbara for sharing yes right now i have few symptoms but the fear of the unknown takes a toll on me . i spoke to the cardio who share the same view as yu already shared above thank yu so much maybe its worth the wait though i will keep posted thank yu for your prayers i love the support and love on this forum its so so overwhelming.....

Jennifer McInerney  You gave come to a good place for information. I am sure we will all answer your questions. My valve is not the result of rheumatic fever so I can't answer your question but welcome to the site. God bless

ConNie Romo  My valve disease was due to a rheumatic fever. I have both Aortic and Mitral valves stenosis, regurgitation. My Aortic valve was beyond repair so it was replaced July 2016. In June 2014, they did a Balloon Valvuloplasty to open up my moderate-severe narrowed Mitral valve. My surgeon decided to only replace the Aortic valve. After my Aortic valve replacement the Mitral valve function has dramatically improved. If the damage to your valves is on the severe side then most likely they will replace it.

Rose Madura  I was born with a bucuspid aortic valve and then had rheumatic fever as a child. I lived with my damaged valve for 50+ years before I had to have surgery. My valve was replaced along with the aorta and part of the arch. Each case is different and unique but we all have a commonality in that we have ussues of the heart. This is a great forum for information and encouragement. Please keep us posted on your progress.

authur ruwona  thank you so much all of you may GOD continue to bless you i happy to hear responses from you i will keep you posted of the progress and am due for review tommorow what do yu suggest i ask the doctor so that am well informed about my sitiation .
i am glad you will give me more advice and experiences as we are facing common problem sometimes am very emotional i feel angry because i remember some symptoms of rheumatic fever when i was a teen but because i was young and maybe parents were not aware of such condition with the developing countries health sector not that so great i you miss all the important part of going to see a doctor...i have a young family which i worry a lot about there future when an not there .
thank yu once again evryone for the support ,thank yu to the admin i watch you vedios a lot of yutube ....