Jo's Journal

Marie Myers  After the initial loss of 5-10 lbs of fluid weight, I lost about 8 lbs the week of surgery. Not a lot of eating going on for 4-5 days...

Tracy Fallu  I lost a total of 14lbs after surgery in November. Since then I’ve gained 5lbs.
and look forward to 9 more, so when I get the green light to run, my body is ready.

Rita Savelis  Oh, yes, I definitely lost my appetite, and consequently weight, after OHS. It took a long time to get back to my normal pre-surgery weight.

Wanda Blackwood  Hey Jo, I'm going on 2 weeks post surgery and am having the same issue. I came home Thursday and weighed myself at 140. Friday at 136. Saturday at 133. Not weighed yet today. So yeah, others have this to. If that helps. Just wondering myself when it tapers off and levels out.

Jo Seph  I have started to gain weight since I've been home for 3 months now waiting for my date, and now im going in this Wednesday and surgery on Thursday. So its kind of good to know that i will be loosing some of this excess weight that i put on over the months :).

Bonnie Stone-Hope  Very big decision for you. Hope you have lots of time to do the research necessary to make your decision.

Larry Ring  Jo...
I had my AVR surgery one year ago, and the struggle with mechanical vs. tissue was pure torture.
I opted for tissue and have no regrets.
I'm older than you...59...but still deliberated A LOT over the decision.
I just found a really interesting article that should be food for thought for you:

http://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2015/03/03/09/28/surgical-aortic-valve-replacement-biologic-valves-are-better-even-in-the-young-patient

At the end of my process, three things led me to tissue:
1. The hope that I could be off blood thinners post surgery
2. The prospect of hearing the clicking of a mechanical valve post-surgery, and not knowing how my brain would react to that, and
3. The unanimous consensus from every heart doctor I talked to that TAVR would be the norm when my tissue valve needed replacement in 15-20 years.

If a mechanical valve starts to fail, there is no option but to redo open heart surgery. My current cardiologist opined that if things go as they are, by the time I need a new valve, it will likely be an overnight event!

Happy to chat more if you'd like. Hope the article gives you some insight. I found it to be quite informative and compelling myself.

Troy Ainsworth  I’m 47 and in the same boat. I don’t have the answer but will decide in the next week or so. At 47 if I get 10 yrs from a bio valve now I’m 57 and I do tavr, valve in valve. Then what if that one wears out? Valve in valve in valve creating stenosis? There’s a mechanical valve now that requires less anti_coagulation, although still significant. Not sure.

Jo Seph  Mr. King
I want to thank you for your post. it has helped me tremendously on my decision making and brought me to a happy place.

Pat Bluemel  It's agonizing. I was tormented for weeks. I chose bio at age 42 for the following reasons. 1. Very accident prone. 2. My body hates medicine and I didn't want to deal with finding a blood thinner my body would like. 3. Tech advances in the next 10-15 years. Do your research, ask for advice, and one day you will wake up in the morning with a clear course of action. No regrets for me in my decision for sure.

Gerald Poulton  Hi Jo, there are a couple of good articles on my journal that speak to tissue valve being suitable or a good choice for middle aged patients. It also lays out the advantages and disadvantages to both. You are considerably younger but I chose the edwards bovine and glad I did. I had 2 doctors that wanted to give me a mechanical valve and one in his mid 30s that said he would go bovine. Do your homework and know the risks either way, you are the one that gets to live with your decision. All the best, 6 1/2 months post op here and life is great 👍

Kelly Stoll  Hi Jo. I am 36 and having surgery in the next month or so. Decided on the mechanical valve, as surgeon recommended. Issue is tissue valves are so popular, the first surgeon we met with admitted they didn't have recent experience using them. Yikes! Now rethinking tissue valve all over again and finding different surgeon. No matter what your decision is, may you make the one that is right for you.

Michael Cline  Hi Jo, My AVR will be replaced this summer and I too have been struggling with the decision of mechanical vs. bio. I have a done a ton of research and am leaning towards a bio valve. Right now I'm seeking more info on the ATS 3f Aortic Bioprosthesis that is made from horse tissue. It is suppose to be very thin and strong and last 20yrs. Apparently horse has a low levels of phrospholipids which cause valves to deteriorate. I also feel that I wouldn't be good at taking blood thinners and going to blood test appointments, but that's just me. I have friends in the medical field and all have opinions that technology will be much different in 10 - 20 yrs, so if your first bio valve lasts 15 yrs, then your next one might last 25 yrs. Hope this helps. I'm still researching for the perfect choice.

Gerald Poulton  If you under 60 most doctors want to put in a mechanical valve but they arent the ones that have to live on warfarin. They still wanted to put a mechanical in me at 65. That is why you have to research and make your own choice.

Gerald Poulton  I researched the equine valve prior to choosing the Edwards bovine which is all my surgeon uses for tissue valves. The problem that I saw with the equine valve is that it has not been around long therefore the life span of the valve is only estimated because of labratory testing. The estimated lifespan is about the same as the bovine which depends on your age. The younger you are the more the calcification problems. The other reason I did not choose the equine was because of an article that I found while doing research which I quoted below, I chose the proven track record of the 🐂 Over the 🐴

"I am 52 years old and had AVR 4 yrs ago with an ATS 3F equine valve I have been dealing with stinosis and regurgitation for the better part of the last year.
I will be going in as soon as next week for my second surgery. I'm thinking it will be a mechanical this time "

Jo Seph  Hi all, thank you for your stories, i greatly appreciate them all.
I have said earlier that after i had read the article above that i had made up my mind, but the truth is that im back to almost square one and still confused.
The question that bugs me is that which ever one that i would choose no surgean can be 100% certain to tell me the outcome after surgery and even so if that was the case if i choose the Tissue valve, yes the odds are that living and feeling more like a normal lifestyle but there will be another surgery in a later time, and then the Mechanical valve is a whole other ball game in its own with all kinds of lifestyle adjustments and who knows what other complications I might have after surgery with Coumadin.
I just want to say that I love your posts and can't wait to read more stories. Please keep on posting...

Jo Seph  Hi guys, just to update everyone that im going for surgery this Thursday and i chose St Judes tissue valve with my Doc.. I believe that its the best choice for me and hopping to go through the surgery safely and have a speedy and problem free recovery.

Very happy that i found this site, its helping us all in a great way.

Thank you all for your advice and wish you all good luck with your journey towards a long and happy healthy life..

Let there be life :)
Joe

Jo Seph  Hey all, I had my surgury done on March 29th and now its been little over 4 weeks that im home and i feel pretty good. The beginning was tough to breath and walk around or move and sleep, but close to the 3rd week things started to get better.

Hope you all have a great recovery...