Joan's Journal

Wow, can\'t believe it\'s 8 months since my AVR!!! I really don\'t have that much news to report, but thought I\'d say \"hi\" and that I\'m still ticking. I finished my cardiac rehab and now I\'m looking into my next phase of exercise, but I\'m not sure what that will be. I\'d love to get out and just walk but we\'ve had such a cold and snowy winter that it\'s not really feasible right now. But Spring is just around the corner....right????? I\'m really not a winter person at all. Congratulations to Mitch Friedman on his latest , great achievement with the 5K race! He is a remarkable man for sure and a great inspiration to all of us and I\'m so glad I had a chance to meet him. All for now, but best of luck to all who are awaiting their surgeries and I hope you all have the good outcome I\'ve enjoyed, Now it\'s \"get in shape time\" for me!!!! Cheers. Joan

Hard to realize it\'s been 5 months since my surgery, but the time has gone by quickly. I have another few weeks of cardiac rehab and I have mixed feelings about the rehab.....it was helpful in the beginning but I really don\'t see much benefit lately. I am well supervised but no one really pushes me to move to the next level so I sort of drift along dong whatever suits me at the time. Maybe it\'s time I get a personal trainer when I complete the rehab program. I am down to a small dose of toprol (12.5 mg.) now and I feel less tired with the lower dose and also got rid of the occasional dizziness. I will be seeing my cardiologist after Thanskgiving for another checkup. Hurrican Sandy was an \"experience\" for alot of us here in N.J. and we were without power for about a week and I had a large cedar tree fall on my house during the height of the storm but luckily and miraculously it didn\'t do any damage to the house. I live up in the Mts. of NW N.J. (yes, we do have Mts. in N.J.) and we have alot of forests/woods so the tree damage in the area was extensive. But those poor people down at the NJ shore really got nailed and are still without power in many areas. Low BP has been a problem of late with it running in the 50/80 range and it does come up a bit with exercise, but with the lower dose of beta blocker I think it will become more normal....hopefully. Nothing much else is new, but I want to wish all of you waiting for your surgery GODD LUCK and a speedy recovery. Happy Thanksgiving to all........ Joan Davenport AVR 6/12/12 p.s. a special Happy Thanksgiving to Dr. Allan Stewart .

I just noticed that it\'s been two months since I last wrote in my journal.....sorry about being so delinquent but time really has flown by this summer. I am celebrating my 3 month post op anniversary today and I am feeling great!!!! I started cardiac rehab the other day and so far so good. I go 3 times a week and it is in a hospital setting so I feel safe and well monitored. I am under the supervision of several RN\'s at all times. Had another echocardiogram done a few weeks ago and all is well and my cardiologist is thrilled that my new valve is performing so well ( nice and tight and no leaking). I finally got over the \"tired all the time\" feeling when I cut back on the metoprolol. I now take 25 mg. once a day. Thanks Adam for contacting Dr. Salenger at Good Samaritan Hospital in Warwick, N.Y. for me concerning my question about being tired after heart surgery. He suggested several ideas one of which was the metoprolol. Since it is a common drug (beta blocker) given after heart surgery it might be something others need to consider. The drug does have the tendency to make you drowsy/sleepy/tired. I hope all of you awaiting your surgeries have as good an outcome as I had. My surgeon was Dr. Allan Stewart at NYPresbyterian Hospital and he is THE BEST!!!!!!. Best wishes to all and many blessings...... Joan Davenport AVR 6/12/12.

Saw my local cardiologist (N.J.) last week at the 2 week mark and he was pleased with my progress. Yesterday I went into the city (NYC) to see my surgeon for a 3 week post op checkup and that went well also and Dr. Stewart was pleased with my progress and even said I could drive which was good news. Now I can drive to a place with level ground so I can walk more. I live on very hilly property and my driveway could use a T-bar or chair lift. All my water weight is gone and I am sleeping very well at night and often take an afternoon nap. The only medicine I take is a small dose of beta blocker. I must add that the care I received at NYPresbyterian and from my surgeon, Dr. Allan Stewart and his team was phenominal and I couldn\'t have asked for any better care anywhere!!!! I will actually miss them all. I must say that I noticed the biggest improvement in how I feel between the 2nd and 3 rd week post op. And like so many have said, you just have to listen to your body and not try to rush things. It does get a little better each day. Good luck to all who are getting ready for their \"big day\".....it\'ll be here and over with before you know it.

Hi All, It\'s good to have this over with and be home again. My surgery done by a very gifted surgeon named Allan Stewart was very successful ( at least so far as I know) and after one week I finally got out of the hospital. The highlight of my stay was a visit from Mitch Friedman which surprised me (although he did promise to visit). I feel quite well and have never had any pain at all or taken any pain meds which is great. I still have some water weight to get rid of and I see it go a little each day.I stilll need more stamina and work on building up lung function. I thought the doctors and nurses at NYPresbyterian were excellent....especially in ICU where I spent the bulk of my time as there were no beds available in step down until the last day I was there. I don\'t know what happened to my journal but I did notice that it was gone a day or so before my surgery. And since I didn\'t bring my computer to the hsopital I couldn\'t do any updates....sorry about that. All for now, more later