John's Posts

Nice. Joints and muscles experience hiking and running differently but the heart can’t tell the difference. Incline is speed in disguise. Most of what I’m doing is 30 minute interval running on inclines during the week and slower, longer runs on the weekends. My heart rate is about 129 bpm when running 4mph on a flat course now. It’s not fast but it’s sustainable for me.

This seems very counterintuitive and goes against any general "rule". Having said that, is there a chance your dad might have misunderstood something? Also, are there any other medical issues that might make the surgeon lean against a tissue valve, e.g. abnormal calcium metabolism reducing the lifetime of tissue valves, size of the valve, etc. I suspect the surgeon gave bad advice but question him rather than outright dismiss his opinion. My two cents.

It sounded weird. This guy wasn’t his regular cardiologist and he’s also not a surgeon. I think part of it is where he lives on the Oregon Coast - small towns & small town doctors. My dad has regurgitation like me. TAVR is a less likely option. But it doesn’t sound like he has an aneurism yet so it might be. It sounded like this doctor was in a hurry and didn’t spend a lot of time talking to my dad. He was more interested in finishing his day and getting to whatever was after work. My dad has a lot of other health issues that seem to me like they wouldn’t make a full sternotomy the best option at his age. The main one is his lungs and risk of pneumonia and/or plural effusion. I told him that the surgeon will give him their recommendations for a valve type and surgical procedure. Bigger surgical centers will give him more options.

John- regarding your Dad: I recall Adam highlighted the story of a woman who travelled to Germany for a JenaValve: a transcatheter system specifically for aortic regurgitation ( the TAVR is designed for stenosis. All has to do with the anchoring system). Just this past March, the FDA approved the JenaValve for use in the US. The TAVR and now the JenaValve original indication was for patients who were too sick to tolerate a traditional open heart procedure. Glad to hear you are doing well one year on from your surgery. Has your hand numbness ever resolved?

That’s really helpful information. I’ll pass it along to him for when he’s talking to the OHSU doctors. Generally, the numbness in my fingers is better but I still have it at 13 months. Now it’s just in the fingertips and only when I’m pressing them against something. It doesn’t really interfere with anything except if I have to do something “by touch.” However, starting to look like it won’t ever completely go away. One other thing is I was put on Cosentyx for my arthritis 6 weeks ago. It has begun reducing the swelling in my fingers. I think that has also helped the numbness a little.