way to go!

JH, as always...you are an inspiration! Loved your post. Thanks for sharing!! Janis Kielbasa

JH

I'm so glad that you are doing well!!

Jamie McGuire

Thanks for the update JH. Very inspiring to those of us still "on the other" side awaiting surgery and filled wilth questions, concerns and yes, fear! Great to see what is possible during recovery. Keep up the good work, and keep us posted!
-Mitch Friedman

Way to go, JH! You rock with that report of your recovery. Continue to be an example to the new HVJ folks.

Sheila Garrison

Great to read you're doing well. Interesting to read your recent journal about rehab taking it easy on you. Vandy rehab is working me! Ran a 5k on the treadmill on Monday in 35 minutes. No where near my "race pace" but my legs are sore today for sure. I guess it's a good sign. Keep getting stronger and enjoy the season. Bill McAllister

Thanks for sharing. You progress and updates are inspiring. Even when healthy, I can't throw a good frisbee..lol...ask my dog. So glad to see each day you are doing so well. Janis Kielbasa

Congratulations, you have had a tougher operation than most so its nice to know life is going to be so much better from now on!!
Your boys have a wonderful Christmas present - you!

Rosemary Sutherland

This is very encouraging! I am at the apprehensive point. oK...I'm scared. My surgery is in 5 days. I too am in good shape an am having NO symptoms.

Thank you for all your kind and encouraging words. I'm glad that you are doing well.

Jan in Statesville

Thank you JH for your kind words I am just chomping at the bit to see my cardio doctor on Friday...shoulder pain is getting better since you reminded me about my posture..tylenol 3's still seem to be doing the trick..have not attempted to sleep on my stomach yet..Have you??? Good luck to you JH...stay in touch

Bill Van Hecke

Good morning, JH

You should be the poster man for this HVJ site. You make recovery look easy. I'm so proud of you for keeping it positive.

Keep pushing it. Your body will tell you when to step it back. Maybe after your first triathlon?

Continue to take good care of youself.

Sheila Garrison

J h Sorry if this is a duplicate. Not sure if last message went thru. Am female mid 60 & eager to get the AVR done come 2-9-12. In st Louis. Am unable to sign in on this journal. Something I do is incorrect. Am checking on that. But so appreciate your happy upbeat messages. I stay away from the depressing ones. Your procedure sounds like it went so well & I hoping for the same. Still work & love what I do. Travel a lot. So will be eager to get back after 6-8!weeks after.

Thanks again. Be well. And yes - we' re all pretty lucky. I have tons of questions to ask some one who has gone thru this. But no onei know in the area I know of yet. St Louis. Any way hubby is taking good care of me - practicing ahead of time. Thx again for the cherry stuff love it. Nancy

Hi JH, you sound like you've got that bull by the horns. Good for you but just remember he can give you one unexpected twist and you'll be on your proverbial ... . But if and when that happens just kick back for a day or two and regroup. Keep up the good work... Eric

Back to work full-time? I did that also. Keep pushing yourself....and then, one day - WHAM! You wake up and felt like you ran a marathon (but only for a day). That happened to me a few times. I had to stop singing that song, "I am woman, hear me roar."
Continue to stay strong, my friend!

Sheila Garrison

Great to see all is going so well with you. Thanks for the kind words in my guestbook. Week 4 has felt more like I'm on vacation than short-term disability. I'm sure I'll be back at work soon but everyone tells me to take my time so trying to do that. Here's to continue smooth recoveries for both of us. Bill McAllister

Way to go, JH!! You are recovering fast like I did. I agree with you that the hardest part was the days before surgery.

Take care. Maybe we'll meet up at a 5K race somewhere.

May God continue to bless you in your recovery.

Sheila Garrison - Apple Valley, CA

Thank you for your writing such encouraging and caring words in my journal. Reading your story and journal has helped me tremendously. I can only hope that my recovery is as good as yours seems to be going. I will make sure that I walk,walk,walk..just like you said to.. I look forward to keeping up with your progress.. Thanks again!
Jamie McGuire

You are having a great recovery....I too had an aortic root aneurysm...and catheter mitral valve....I was not able to drive until 8 weeks....the first month home I was very very slow to recover..

Tomorrow it will be three months and I am planning on returning to work at the end of this month....Once I got past week 8 My recovery really improved......I also am on Metoporol and Pacerone and Lipitor along with Lasix....being my valve is mechanical also warfarin.
I walk 5 times a week a mile or so...
GOD BLESS YOU
JOHN MADONNA

Hi J H. It seems you are well on your way to a speedy and full recovery. Congrats and keep up the good work... Eric

My husband just had his aortic valve and roor replaced Friday and it has been very reassuring reading your posts and knowing he will be up and feeling much better soon. As scary as this surgery is for the patient it is so hard to see your loved one in pain. Thanks for making me feel a little better tonight.

Glad to see you are doing okay with recovery. I had night sweats before the operation but I think they call that menopause. Ha ha. Actually, I was running hot the entire time I was in the hospital and people could almost see their breath in my room. Now that I'm home I'm cold. Weird.

Funny thing is my chest isn't what really hurts now, it's the right shoulder/arm. Do you have soreness there too? My hubby says it must be from the way I was splayed during surgery.

Best of luck for continued healing!
Terri Grimes

Sorry for the multiple posts...blame it on the Percocet. Bill

Hope all is going well. Good job working the plan and taking the ups and downs in stride. Bill

Glad u r doing well. I may be doing same this in 6-12 months & the journals helping. Like u I don't want the world to know just yet keeping it on the low down ( except for husband) curious did u have minimal invasive or the whole shebang ? Again get better quick. Best. Nancy

J.H.
Congratulations on your continnuing recovery. How you feel, if you could chart it would kind of looks like a stock market chart. But the trend is always up! Not every day but the trend is up. Keep up the good work!
Joe Gimbel

Wow, only 4 days after the Bentall procedure is quick. They say 7 - 10 days is "normal". I was in a week after mine. It does knock the crap out of you, I remember telling visitors I really felt like I was literally hit by a train or a city bus was parked with its rear wheels parked on my chest. Even after 5 weeks or so, some days I really felt someone had strung me up by the wrists and used me as a punching bag all night. When I told my cardiologist that, he laughed and said to expect that some days up to about 8 - 12 weeks. Hang in there, the "good" days will increase over time as the "others" will decrease. Remember not to overdue it, even if you feel good. Stay ahead of the pain. Be patient and take it in stride... Eric

Just wondering how your surgery went on Monday. Hopefully, you're out of CICU and stepdown by now and in a regular room. Hope you're recovery is going well. .... Eric

Hope surgery went well. Keeping you in my prayers.

PS - the blanket underneath was for the night sweats and my wife helping me up.

Hope your surgery went well and that you are in recovery. Bill McAllister, my husband, just stepped down from ICU today . He wanted to see how you were doing. So glad this blog is able to help connect fellow heart valve patients and families.
Praying for peace and strength for you both,
Amy McAllister

I prayed for you several times today and I know you are doing just fine! Before you know it you'll be running laps around the hospital. LOL.

Best of luck with your recovery J. It will be a hard road for both of us, but we're going to be just fine! Bill is so right, we're all the lucky ones that we have a chance to get our tickers fixed before its too late. Well said Bill!

Warm regards,
Terri Grimes

Try to get some rest tonight and focus on the fact that you are one of the lucky ones for finding it before an emergency happened. Many never get the chance to get it fixed. Stay strong...you'll be back home resting before you know it. Bill McAllister

Oops, forgot to sign my name. Guess I've got my mind on other things this weekend (like freaking out about wednesday!!!) Hang in there JH!

Warm regards,
Terri Grimes

JH I know EXACTLY how you feel! I'm the world's biggest "B" this weekend because I'm freaking out about my surgery on Wednesday. I'm going to try to start focusing on the positive parts of it and stop thinking about the negative parts.

I'll be saying a prayer for you tomorrow morning when I wake up. All the best to you surgery buddy, we'll both amaze everyone with our fanstastic healing abilities!

Good luck to you JH. I'll be having a similar procedure on Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic. I live in Nashville but work in OH regularly so I pass through Louisville all the time. Feel good about your valve choice. I'm having my aortic valve repair/replace and root/ascending replaced by Dr Sabik who is the chairman of cardiac surgery at the CC. When I posed the similar concern to him about mechanical versus tissue, he really left the decision up to me and said that all those docs that tell you mechanical is the only way to go are not the ones who have to take a pill everyday for the rest of your life while also running a 2% chance of a major bleeding event or a stroke every year. There are tissue valves now that many feel confident will last 20 years plus, they just don't have the hard facts to fully support and endorse it yet. Hope all goes well, Bill McAllister

Good luck with your surgery. I had root replacement 9 weeks ago. They kept my valve at my request so I was lucky it was in good shape.

Get an electric recliner (rent a center)
Sleep on top of a blanket so it is easier for someone to help you
Keep a precise medicine log
Be prepared for the chills and sweats (warm blankets)
Get a robe
Get extra button down shirts
Get some slippers
Walk walk walk

Excellent choice, J H. Good luck with your pre op tests tomorrow and surgery on Monday. Please keep us posted on your progress. ...Eric B.

I'm close in age to you (and also live in Louisville). I too chose a tissue valve and my surgery is two days after yours! Mine is on Oct 19th at Babtist East. Is that the same hospital you'll be at? If so we'll pass each other in the halls I'm sure.

My surgeon told me I'd be getting a mechanical valve and I stopped him right there and said, no I don't think so. It wasn't so much the blood thinners I was concerned with, but the clicking sound. I'm too ocd to have a clicking sound everytime my heart beats, not to mention the fact that I ghost hunt so the possiblity of a clicking on my recordings would be very annoying. Every day I go back and forth on if I'm making the right decision, but that's the decision I'm sticking with. My surgeon, Dr Pollock, said that it would be a pig valve most likely. Oh goody, now I'll get teary eyed every time I pass a mud hole. Ha-ha.

Best of luck with your surgery!

Terri Grimes

Hi JH,
A year and a half ago I had to make the same decision as you. My bicuspid aorta had to be replaced. I did a lot of research prior to the surgery, much of it right here on Adams website. I am 10 yrs. older than you and decided to go with the bovine valve. There are many opinions out there as to how long these valves last. My cardiologist says maybe 20 yrs. Others say less. Regardless, My reasoning was that hopefully when the time comes technology will be more advanced and the replacement less invasive.
Whatever you decide will be whats right for you. If you have any questions regarding my experience please feel free to contact me. This is a special community here on Adams site and we will be all praying for you.
Randy

Hi JH, I have been faced with the same dilemma too. The cardiologist wanted me to have the mechanical valve and the cardiovascular said he would prefer the tissue valve if it was him but wouldn't decide for me. Its like would you like a strawberry or vanilla coating on a very bad tasting pill. The cardio vascular surgeon did say the blood thinning agents did come with their own set of problems as well. I have chosen the tissue valve. I wasn't keen on taking blood thinners. However like you, I don't know how big a test of strength this operation is going to be. Good luck with your decision.

Hi J H and welcome to Heart Valve Journals. There is a wealth of information here from real people in the same boat as us. My story is very similar to your's except I have about ten years on you. On May 10th of this year I had what they call a Bentall procedure where they cut out the bad section of the aorta, sew a new valve into a graft then attach the graft to the heart. Nothing to worry about. They do it all the time. You will be fine. Check out my story and others... Take it one step at a time and ask any questions that may be haunting you... Eric B.