Christine's Journal

Lynee Casper  Yes, we will be thinking of you all. It's something you face with lots of folks in your corner, praying for a successful surgery and cheering you on in recovery. You will be busy focusing on recovery and that is good!

Ed Smith  Congratulations, Christine. I completed 36 sessions of cardio rehab following AVR last January and am feeling better than pre-surgery.

Liz Burroughs  Hi Christine, I'm glad that you're enjoying cardiac rehab! It is very inspiring & helpful for a successful recovery. I'm really enjoying my rehab too. I'll see next week when I have to be there at 7:00 AM if it's still as enjoyable! I'm also walking my dog up the street & back. Congrats on your progress! Take care. Liz

W. Carter  The best thing about rehab is the affirmation that our physical fitness is improving and that our valves are working properly under pressure. I remember at about 3 months I went jogging by myself to just test the new valve to make sure it would handle the stress. Thats just me I do crazy things not really thinking or caring about what happens. With rehab you have professionals to help you if something goes wrong.

Lynee Casper  Best to you too, Christine, it's great to hear you are progressing so well. Blessed Thanksgiving to you too!

Steven A Husted  yes happy thanksgiving and the good lord above watch over your recovery and enjoy cardio rehab i did and i kept it up into phase 3

Liz Burroughs  Hi Christine, thanks, I'm glad that everything looks great for you & your recovery is on track! Thinking of you & hoping that your recovery continues to go well. Take care. Liz

Terrie Syvertsen  Good to hear you made it home and that your hubby is with you taking care of you. Hope you can get some good sleep, careful walks and a taste for food that won't upset your tummy! Take care. Be careful while around your little fur balls!

Liz Burroughs  Thanks for the advice! I'm glad that you're home again. Best wishes for a speedy recovery! Take care.

W. Carter  Welcome back, take it easy and slow. You will soon feel better than you have in years. You will have enough energy to walk for an hour a day. :-)

Kimberly Biddick  Glad to hear you have made it home and are on the mend. I hope each day is a little bit better for you!

Tammy Pilcher  Prayers and best wishes, Christine. You'll soon have this all behind you. My one year post-op anniversary will be Oct. 31. I've done great and you will too! God bless you!

Ihn Kim  I wish you the best on your upcoming surgery. My surgery will be on Oct. 21. I know what you are going through.

Liz Burroughs  Best of luck w/your surgery! I'm sure that you'll do fine. My thoughts & prayers will be with you on Tuesday.

Meredith Bray  My mom dragged me out for a hair appointment 14 days after surgery. It was nice to get out, and the haircut lasted a really long time because the anesthesia stopped my hair & nails from growing for about 6 weeks. it was great! Wishing you luck, looking forward to hearing from you on the other side!

Gerald Schaffer  I can't help you with recipes but this web site lists different foods and what are better to eat on blood thinners.
http://ptinr.com/vitamin-k-facet-search?tid=1213&tid_1=21

Clare Auten  I find the big foods to avoid are broccoli, kale, spinach and salad greens, they will lower your INR. Cranberries and wine will raise it.
I do it some salad but I put in lots of iceberg. I also enjoy a good pasta con broccoli and beef and broccoli on occasion. I just try not to overdue it on the broccoli.

Christine Oliva  Thank you all for your suggestions. Gerald thank you too for that informative list. I learned a few things. I'm a big tuna lover but if that is my biggest problem, I'll be very happy. Thank you again and now only 7 more days......
Take care all.

Eddie Patton  Good luck. I can say from experience the fear and anxiety going in far out weighs the pain after. There is some pain but it is no where near what I expected. When you are in the hospital don't try and be tough take the pain meds especially before walking or any treatments. Hope you have a great surgery and a smooth recovery.

Tammy Pilcher  Prayers and best wishes Christine. My surgery was Oct. 31, 2014 and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had my BAV replaced with a bovine tissue valve. I've done great! You will too! Isaiah 41:13. God bless you!

Gerald Schaffer  I just had the surgery and the pain is not as bad as I thought it would be. I was off painkillers by the fourth day. Best wishes and prayers for you.

Jackie Owens  Just being done and not even a week out, you will be amazed and emotional when you just say "it's over". I'm doing ok, minus the lungs not working right and just general fatigue. I'm not using pain killers except when my shoulders start to hurt. I have zero pain in my sternum but pain off and on in the shoulders from the surgical positioning. I requested a massage in the hospital and it helped, a lot! I got home last night from the hospital and today I've slept and also spent an hour just sitting on my dad's back patio. It's the simple things that get you excited! Oh and the shower you get to take when you get home from the hospital will destroy you physically, but you will feel so much better to be clean ! You're going to do great! :)

Rosemary Resler  I would first ask the doc if it can wait till January. I don't know anything about that insurance, we have Aetna, which so far basically sucks because we have such huge deductibles and co-pays. And the medical and drug deductibles are separate from one another too. I just started this process two weeks ago and the bills are rolling in. I also have aortic replacement coming up on 9/8/15, can't wait to see that bill.

Naomi Ivker  We have United Health care which stinks. The (sort of) good news is that under the affordable care act the most you can pay out of pocket (co pay deductible uncovered amounts) should be $3500. A lot of the testing already done may have counted towards that. It is still painful but I estimate it saved us $20k+

Ginger Marine  Mine could not wait. I was already maxed out on my share of UHC so I am hoping there won't be much more to deal with. Have not seen a bill yet, but I know UHC told me the drs fee is usually ~$80,000. I had six days n the hospital due to complications and basically 2 openings, plus I went to a rehab center for 10 days. Have no idea what the total will be, but I could not have lived, likely, without it done. Thank God for ACA.

Jean Raber  I wish I had an answer about Kaiser, and God knows I hate to tell someone who feels crappy already to call an insurance company and play phone-go-round with them, but that might be your best bet.

Am in a similar situation. Waiting to find out what the cardio and hematologist recommend next month, and then will call Blue Care Network to see if they'll pony up and for how much. There's one guy named Karl who actually gives correct answers and good service. I always tell them I need to talk to him.

Ginger, I agree. Many things about ACA could be improved, but I went without health insurance for several years. I wouldn't even be able to afford the diagnostics (TEE was over $2,000) without insurance I got through ACA.

Daniel Spurgeon  I remember one woman on this site from Ventura having a valve replacement at Kaiser. I don't remember her name off hand but you might be able to search for her profile.

Christine Oliva  Thank you all for replying. I really need some encouragement right now. I did try to talk to Kaiser, but terrible service, numerous calls, run around, no help and yesterday after 3 wks I was informed my policy had a $75k annual limit so too bad for me. Also, they would not give me an approximate cost on anything but I should understand I was responsible for anything over $75K. They also told me "if you recover from your operation, we could sell you policy for next year." Great, thanks for your concern KP. Which is one of the reasons I am thinking of waiting do I want these people to operate on me? Of course, I may have no choice. I am trying to talk to an advocate this week so wish me luck. I don't want it for free, I just want to see if I can set up a payment or installment plan so I don't lose my house.

Thank you Daniel for mentioning the women from Ventura who I will search the profiles. I will let you guys know what happens with me and the insurance company. This way all these calls and frustration can help others or at least warn them of this huge loop hole. I feel like Alice, but I won't give up even with a bad heart valve. No way!

Thank you again and you all please take care of yourself, loved ones and those taking the plunge soon. Crossed fingers and toes! See you soon.

Rosemary Resler  Working with an Advocate is a good idea, I'm sure she can help. You might also want to contact your local Agency on Aging, they don't just deal with seniors, they also may be able to help you.

Jean Raber  Christine, the situation with insurance companies would be laughable if they weren't true. I am so sorry you have to deal with this kind of crap. It makes me mad for you! A friend had an advocate when she was diagnosed with leukemia. It was an absolute godsend, so I hope that will help you, too.

Rosemary Resler  Christine I used to work for Healthet and I know some of the games that insurance companies played, it's sickening. I worked in the Medicare dept and was always fighting to get claims paid. My husband works for our insurance company, so thankfully he will be my advocate.

W. Carter  The educational process to become a cardiac surgeon is one of the longest in the medical field. Cardiac surgeons must complete four years of college, four years of medical school, a 5-year general surgery residency and a 2-3 year specialized cardio or cardiothoracic fellowship. So with that being said they (heart surgeons) are all over-qualified to operate on you. As far as the cost above what your insurance will pay, they can't eat you, as long as you make payments (no matter how small) it will not effect your credit. Quit worrying and take care of yourself. Good luck and God bless!