Donghua's Journal

Mike Roskowinski  Great to hear about Lixian. It is great to see people in recovery. Praying for continued success for your family.

Diane Maher  Hello...I notice that Lixian had an AVR but now his echo is showing some mild mitral regurgitation. I had my AVR done Aug. 20 and 6 weeks later had a follow up echo....which showed mild mitral regurgitation. At my 8 week consult with my surgeon, we discussed this new finding but he said he was quite confident that it was going to heal on its own as all the valves were checked before closure and everything was fine.
At my 6 week consult with my cardiologist, he basically said the same but ordered another echo to be done a couple of weeks ago for comparison. I had my consult this week, the cardiologist said there was noticeable improvement between the 2 echos, everything was working and healing well and he could no longer hear any mitral valve murmur. Therefore, I don’t have to have another echo or see him for a year. I am hoping that this will be the case for Lixian❤️🙏

Louanna Miller  You are strong and you are s warrior. Keep taking it one day and one step at a time. It’s a tough journey but does get better. I’m 8 weeks post surgery and am finally feeling significantly better and feel like I’m making progress. We are all different and we must allow ourselves to walk our own journey. Take care of you!!

Susan Lynn  Beautifully written and an excellent reminder to keep perspective about the most important things in life. Our experiences are responsible for creating the people we are. Ironically, the worst ones can be the most developmental because they force us to evaluate ourselves, what we're made out of, even how we choose to spend the time that we do have. None of us want to be heart patients, but I would say that we all recovered with something more than our respective repairs and replacements. We were brought together in this community and we were given the greatest gift to cherish every day. You don't realize how important life is until you're forced to think about the alternative.
Thank you for your post - all the best to you and Lixian!

Marie Myers  An excellent post! Lots of wisdom there. Having such a big surgery can change our perspective on things, that is for sure. Wishing both of you all the best!

Rita Savelis  Thanks for sharing. Congrats for making it through that first difficult week! Wishing you a smoother ride from now on.

Susan Lynn  The anesthesia takes some time to work it's way out of the body. For the patient, sleeping can feel like a relief after the pre-surgical stress and a quick way to pass the time in the hospital. He'll get his energy back then it's - walk, walk, walk.

Susan Lynn  It's perfectly normal to feel stressed and preoccupied. I forced myself to maintain a folder of my information so I could stay organized for each consultation. You're all going to be fine. Take it one day at a time.

Chris Purvis  I live in Atlanta as well. If your staying local Northeast Georgia in Gainesville is the best. Dr. Wolfe and Dr. Winston.

Chris Purvis  If you stay local they might be able to do a mini sternotomy. Check out my story if your interested...in a minimally invasive procedure that requires travel to Houston Texas

Kelly Stoll  I have one. My surgery was in April. Cardiologist said it is a little quieter than the St. Jude and personally, we found some good reviews about it while researching options. It is approved for less warrfrain but it all depends on your diet, body chemistry and INR (how fast your blood clots). We figured worst case, I take just as much meds as I would with the other valve. Best case, less. So far, very happy.

Kelly Stoll  You are welcome. It is a big surgery and can be very scary to talk about at first. As my doctor said, find a surgeon you feel comfortable with and can trust. The rest will fall into place.

Lyle Blanchard  I have one and I'm 14 months post surgery...so far so good... I keep up with my INR weekly and take warfarin and metoprolol daily but other than those meds I don't have to take anything. I'm happy with the valve so far and I've been given a clean bill of health from my cardiologist and my electro physiologist so unless I have something come up I will see them yearly from here on. I'll be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

Willie Radl  I received the on-x valve in aortic position, it is approved for lower INR range (1.5-2) but there isn't as much history on that value. So far mine has been great, heart feels normal and don't notice any difference is the way it feels. I work out regularly and there are no issues. Best of luck.