Carol's Journal

Have any of you needed a pacemaker after a TAVR? My cardiologist wants to run a test on me to see if I need a pacemaker. My pulse is 54, BP today is 122 (in dr. office 140) Dia is 75. He had an echo done a week ago and said the new valve is working just fine. My surgery was in 2015. He has me on a tone of meds, because I still had AFIB after surgery. (Valve and AFIB genetic). Personally, I think if I have any issues, it is being caused by meds. I would appreciate feed back.

Hi, I don't get on here much. My heart valve surgery was in 2015 TAVR. At first they were going to do the full monty, but I protested and they decide I qualified after all. Before I was told I wasn't sick enough. Yet I had been given only 2 years at the most to live! The surgery went very well, in on Monday out on Friday. I was put on a beta blocker, Metoprolol. Now my skin bleeds easy with every little scratch or bump. My dr. says it is my skin type. There are other beta blockers out there and I will find them! But what I really want to tell others having this bleeding/bruising problem what I have done to help my skin. I started taking All my med 1 hour apart, now there are 9 pills. Not sure I need them all. In addition to taking the pills 1 hour apart, I have started putting:

"Bio Oil, Vaseline Intensive Care with Aloe, Arnicare Bruise Relief
and "Remedy" Intensive Skin Therapy which I got at a small medical supply store near me. If there isn't a medical supply store near you, I suggest you go online and see if you can find it. It helps to keep skin from being too dry. I put all 4 of these things on my arms 1 to 2 times a day and my arms are looking a lot better. It takes about 10 minutes of your day to do this and if it helps it is worth the trouble. I hope it works for those of you who need help with your skin.

I have explained to my cardiologist that my concern is more than vanity (I am nearly 78). The major concern is if I bleed this easily and in the future need more surgery, I could bleed to death. I know they take you off your meds for about 2 weeks before, but I will probably need to be off a month before.

So, I will continue to research Beta Blockers and their side effects.

Take care.