John's Posts

I had a similar surgery as yours. They repaired an ascending aorta aneurysm and implanted an On-X mechanical aortic valve. I have a very pronounced heart beat just above my collar bone. I asked my surgeon about it. His opinion was; a lot of plumbing was changed and it's a little stiffer than my original tissue artery. It also was changed in one day and we normally have a chance, in-utero and many years there after, to get use to the sound of our heart. I'm getting use to it and it sure bets the alternative 💓. I'm also on 25 mg x2/day metoprolol to calm the contraction of my heart. I hope it's nothing for you. Best wishes!

Thank you Elaine for sharing your experience. My bi cuspid valve was repaired and not replaced. It was my cardiologist and not the surgeon who gave me a similar answer as your surgeon. He said it's caused by the valve closing properly with no leakage that's causing the problem. He said that when it closes properly, the pressure from the blood in my aorta causes the pressure to "slam" against the valve and thus the feeling I get. One question for you if I may, can you or anyone else feel the heart beat with your hand? I'm also wondering how long this will go on before it stops the hammering or when I get used to it. I forgot to mention that they also repaired my aneurism as well.