Jason's Journal

Well folks, it's been a long time. I'll make this short - the surgeons in Colombia did not want to operate on me so they didn't. They told me I was in good health and they didn't want to interfere. Now you'd think that's great news but my heart cath done in Dec shows some really high pressures. Frustration doesn't even begin to cover it! Anywho, letting you guys know I'm still fighting the good fight. Cheers. J

The ball is rolling, I'll be headed to Bogota, Colombia for valve replacement # 2. The hospital is JCI accredited so I'm happy about that, the fact remains that it could not be done here at home so off I go. The count down has begun in earnest and I'm excited about that. I look at some of your stories and it makes me feel loads better. Big kudos to Adam for starting this.

I've never been too good at the waiting game and the anxiety is messing with my psyche. It's been confirmed that I must go abroad for my procedure, re-op's don't happen very often here so the surgeons experienced in this procedure are pretty much non existent. I was really hoping to stay home and be able to have fam and friends around while I recovered, I was actually looking forward to the hospital visits. I'm scouring the internet to gauge recovery time, how soon I can fly and all that jazz. Everything is relative, it depends on your personal case. I'm not upset cause I'll have my wife with me and at the end of the day this is being done so save my life so......suck it up Jay. Did anybody have a similar experience?

I got to see a visiting surgeon from the UK today; a very nice guy who didn't mind the TON of questions I threw at him. I guess they're all used to this by now. Anyway, the good news is that based on all of my tests my heart is in pretty good condition. Yay me.......so why aren't I "happy". I had the pros and cons of tissue vs mechanical talk today and I must admit.....WOW. I asked what he would do if he were in my shoes and he looked me in the eye and said.....tissue. Lower pressure on the right side is a factor, I'm 34 so it may not degenerate as quickly cause I'm older, it'll be slightly "easier" to implant because of the calcification of my current valve AND......a transcathether procedure after this "should" be the end of my surgery woes. Nothing is cast in stone! My first homograft lasted me 18 years, i "may" get the same out of this one. On the other hand, mech with warfarin and we out an end to this business right now (knocks on wood). I have never been a fan of having to take meds but when it's all about life and death are we really in a position to argue. Todays question - if you were me, what would you do? Nobody but people with heart valve "issues" will truly understand the implication of this question.

I'm a 34 year old getting ready for round two of open heart surgery. I'm "worried" about one thing...the warfarin. Yep, I'm going for the mechanical this time, I don't want to have a round three! Does anyone have a mechanical pulmonary valve? I'm wondering if the On-X can work in that position as well? Congrats to my fellow survivors, I wear my scar proudly!