Emily Rowley  I don't mind if they need to place a mechanical valve in, as long as I'm alive and have many healthy decades to come ๐Ÿ˜Š When my Surgeon told me she will be having more experienced (in this very specific area) Surgeons, my first thought was that's great I will have a whole specialized team, my next thought that crossed my mind was is she not confident or competent doing this Operation. I'm so glad she will be doing it when she isn't on-call and has more sleep! In this advanced world there is always solutions. I will be in highly respected Capital City of Australia. My heart is compensating quite well and I'm coping. It is bit difficult when my Family aren't coping as well as I am, however my Ward (has it's own PC Worker) Pastoral Care Sister (they have a chapel downstairs) has been a wonderful blessing helping out in everyway possible. I will be having an Anaesthetist for my TOE Wednesday, she has contacted me-they all keep up-to-date and communicate with each other. I've seen people who don't care about their life, don't take care of their body and hurt others; I think why did it need to be who is the total opposite that values my life and others.

W. Carter  You are going to make it just fine. Whatever kind of valve is ok if we have good days ahead, and I know you will have many many good years coming up!

Emily Rowley  Thanks Carter, I know some people say "stay clear of this or that valve ie. Mechanical" but these days it doesn't matter as much and needs to work properly in my individual body ๐Ÿ˜Š

Emily Rowley  Aww thank you so much Pino. I love this caring Community-it shows we have Hearts and beautiful ones โค

Emily Rowley  Aww thank you so much. You have a very beautiful soul Terrie! I hope all is well with you too. Wish all our precious hearts were mended without pain ๐Ÿ’• My Surgery date has been changed. I would love to keep in touch ๐Ÿ˜Š Em

Terrie Syvertsen  Good morning Emily-All is well with me, thank you but I am sorry this morning to read of your complications and changed "date" for surgery. We will definitely keep in touch and you have a wonderful community here of people who will continue to support and comfort you with your journey of the heart.....So...the new date is penciled in on my calendar for the 28th. and a special prayer for your successful surgery is "in place". Keep the positive energy flowing and Believe all will be well! Keep in touch. Terrie

Whitney Nelson  Artie, you write the best post! When I start feeling nervous I go back and re-read the post you wrote me! Thanks so much!

Emily Rowley  Thank you so much Enrique. I've finished up Work, but everyone has been sick at Work and now I'm starting to feel unwell. I'm trying to do everything I can to try stay healthy like warm honey & camomile tea, rest, fluids. Anything that can help? I don't know if I have picked something up or it's just nerves cause I'm worried about the Surgery...
I have a really excellent Surgeon, so I'm in good hands.
Yay, how do you find your Valve and how did you come to decide on Porcine Valve? ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

I hope your recovery is going really well for you Enrique.

Catrina Glover  Praying for a successful surgery and quick recovery for you. U and I have something in common. We had our 1st open heart surgeries in 2011 and our 2nd in 2016. U've got this :-). Us heart sisters stick together.

Emily Rowley  You're welcome. Thank you.

It started on Day 3 Post-Op when I was able to get out of bed and move around more. It would last up to 30 mins proximately and come and go. The beta-blockers defiantly helped. Once out of Hospital the only way I could measure it was by visiting my Doctor or my Nurse Sister using her heart rate/blood pressure machine. As far as I can remember I think it last for about 3 months Post-Op (not completely sure). Exercise heightened my heart rate significantly. I know I did overdo my exercise at first too, when I was very keen to recover fast.

Thank you for your Guestbook Post,
Emily.

W. Carter  Plus they will usually put the surgery off to a later date until you have healed. As you know heart surgery and valves are very susceptible to dangerous infections, thats why they do all the dental work prior to surgery.

Emily Rowley  I have booked an Appointment with a Doctor for tomorrow (only time I could get in). My local Pharmacist is great at picking up infections, but unfortunately they can not administer Antibiotics. With my Heart Condition Doctors give me Antibiotics. My throat is sore, I'm very tired, been sneezing heaps and watery eyes so I might be coming down with a cold or flu :S I hope not! What happens if I'm sick prior to Surgery, but get the right treatment? They can't post-pone my Surgery as I urgently need to get done. Thank you for your advice :) Also Carter, is it recommended to get Dental check-ups before OHS?

Emily Rowley  I'm surprised to hear your Son doesn't experience shortness of breath. I used to do alot of Cross Country Running+Athletics like your Son participates in. During running is when I noticed it the most, I even got put of breathe brisk walking same as I do now. About 18 months Post-Op I won a Cross Country Marathon coming 1st then making it to State, but even then I was getting out of breathe and very tired from exertion. At that point my Cardiologist said "You've ran a Marathon & won so I'm sure you're fine, see you in another 12 months."

I hear alot of Surgeons are operating on asymptomatic people. My Surgeon told me to get it down before my heart enlarges like last time (may be the reason why I need another OHS 5 yrs later) otherwise damage to the heart muscle can occur+increased complications. My Surgeon told me that young people tend to wear their valves out more than older people because of all the stress they place on them.

My Surgeon is going to try re-repair if it gives best long-term result. Surgeons here like to repair to give patients long life spans. I have been thinking about my back up valve replacement plan, I'm going to go with a Pig's (tissue) Valve for a number of reasons. My Cardiologist was worried about being young & going on Warfarin with mechanical-2% per yr increase risk of serious bleeding occurring; since I'm planning to live a very long life (pray to God). And Pregnancy. Tissue valve doesn't last very long in young patients especially females, expected 3 or 5 or 10 yrs. They might continue to improve medical technology within that time to give us all better options. Derek on here is young male-his Cow Valve implanted at age 16 only lasted 6yrs! However your Son & you & your family need to do what's best for him. What view does his Cardiologist hold?


I too was told (+read) about how long it would take to recover. My Surgeon said "You're young so you'll recover fast in no time unlike elderly patients". However it took very long, Post-Op I had to get people to dress me, shower me, help lift me out of bed, help me walk as I felt very dizzy. At first I over done my walking to try get back into running but then collapsed few times. I did get there and what helped my recovery was Nurses getting me out of bed day 1 or 2 despite how tired I was. My sternum was sore which took long time. Mentally recovered took the long time, it was very difficult cause I lost alot of friends at School so I didn't have their support+dependability on others led to me falling into a depression.

It took me 12 months to get back into a car on the road, even then I didn't feel confident enough especially on my L's Learning (took about 3 yrs to get onto my P's)-I didn't have the concentration level I did Pre-Op.

I hope this doesn't sound too negative, I'm sure your Son will be in safe hands & he could recover very fast (like other males on here), maybe mine had to do with being female (very emotional). It would mean alot to your Son to reach out to him, hold him in your loving arms & find help especially when you feel he might be in need of some assistance-I know it is harder for guys to talk about their feelings sometimes.

Yes, I'm from Australia. How about you?

Thank you so much. I will be praying for your Son & his family (including you). I wish you all the very best, Emily.

Emily Rowley  Do they have different sizes there waiting?

St Jude's make Pacemakers as well. Wow that's small must be the new ones. Yeah that's the one this elderly woman I was talking about has.

There is a little part of me still indecisive. However, I was worried about the effects of warfarin (at such a young age ie. No kids) & the risk of major bleeding/complication rising causing it to fail was my main concerns. I also wonder if they will bring out a more suitable valve in years to come when the pig valve would need replacing. I am concerned about my body rejecting the tissue valve+short life span of it. It would be nice to hear your opinion on this ๐Ÿ˜Š

Thank you for your Guestbook Post, look forward to hearing from you,
Emily.

Emily Rowley 
Great idea of one long post :D

Thank you, I read Christineโ€™s Story a short time ago too, while looking into tips for women going through Surgery.

Do you have mitral valve regurgitation too? I hope your repair goes well as planned and know I will be praying for you!

My Cardiothoracic Surgeon is a reasonable young yet highly skilled and experienced female plus she has the same first & middle name as me! She is going to try re-repair (only been a couple years since my first repair) if too damaged or too scarred/not give me the best long term result she will replace it. I've been tossing up between pig valve or mechanical valve. It's an incredibly hard decision especially because I'm only 20 yrs old (will be 21 when they operate) and a female. Thinking about what happens if I one day have a child?
As well as all those "female things/questions"...
I've ordered a cardiac bra+incision shield.

That would be of great help and much appreciated.

My lovely Mum bought me fully cotton plain tops from Target :) It's hard to find my size.

Think I might be youngest on here possibly? When I walked into the waiting room for pre-admission, meeting my Surgeon and Hospital ward I was the youngest by far-most looked like in their 80's!

My Surgeon did practice in the UK too :) Have you picked out a good Hospital and Cardiac team?
You go girl! I want to do rehab too, last time recovering I over done it and kept collapsing :S Post-Op view from my Hospital window was directly at the cool rehab gym with glass windows on ground level of the Hospital-I was wishing I was there lol.

If you have any questions or would like someone to talk to I'm here.
Once again I hope everything from pre-op to post-op and onwards goes well for you.

Em xx

Sophia Ridley  Hi Emily, thankyou. Yes, I have mitral valve regurgitation coupled with a touch of EDS which adds a little twist (see my journal for details).

I'm sorry to hear that you're facing this for a second time, and so young. You sound confident in your surgeon which means you can concentrate on you. I've got great faith in my surgeon and hospital (Mr Moat, Royal Brompton) -they are doing all they can so it's down to me to get through this.

I can't help on the decision between different replacement valves, I've never discussed it with my surgeon. And if you have concerns about having kids afterward, best speak with your surgeon.

I'll let you know what clothes/toiletries was useful / waste of time when I get through to the other side...