Kristian's Journal

Timothy Andre  Amazing Kristian!! Looking good my friend. I love posts like this. You are doing great. I am so happy to hear that your recovery is going well. God bless you

Ana Brusso  Your update is impressive and what a great view. Congratulations on completing rehab, continued good health and God bless you 

Donna Casaletto  So great to hear you’re accomplishing some very physical and challenging activities!! What a beautiful view and thank you for being an inspiration!! 

Greg Lewis  Great to see you doing so good! This post is inspiring, so thanks! I am post surger(ies) about 18 mos. It's been a long road to get here. Hit another hurdle now, but it will get better.I am supposed to go to Brazil next winter to see my brother, and really hope I am back to good strength! He wants to do a long road tour in Brazil. So we'll see. 
Take care! Keep posting your trip updates! 


Greg.

George Gardopee  Hi Kristian. The itching is pretty common. Itching was my only complaint after about three weeks post surgery. My scar was raised and reddish for months. I’m just a week shy of one year today and the redness is almost gone, some of it is still raised, and it still occasionally itches. Incidentally, I also had endocarditis prior to surgery. My scar is still visible but only a fraction of what it was 6 months ago.  A few weeks ago several people on this site posted photos of their scars - it might be worth taking a look at those photos.

Klara Čičić  What you described sounds normal, part of the healing process, with time it will be less purple/reddish and more light pink/white

Marie Myers  At 5 +years, my scar is almost invisible from some angles. It is a thin white line. It took a while in the beginning for the swelling and prominence to decrease.

Danielle Elizabeth  I’m approaching 6 months and mine is still a deeper pink or purple. I don’t go out in the sun and wear 50 spf. I tried silicone sheets but the scar is too sensitive for it. I’m sure it’s normal, I don’t look at my scar much anymore 

Rita Savelis  That sounds normal. Try to avoid the sun for at least a year. It should eventually match your skin color. 

Thomas Brusstar  My scar was red in the early days but always pretty smooth. Today, 4 1/2 years later, it is hardly noticeable.  Not that I walk around bare-chested a lot.

Laura Bickford  Hi Kristian-  I'm 9 months post robotic surgery.  Itching is normal with the healing process.  The red/purplish color is normal also.  I have been using some Aquaphor cream/ointment to massage my healed scars and they are slowly disappearing.  This should only be used on healed scars.

Kristian M.  Thanks everyone who took the time to respond. Feel more at ease now with the answers you all have provided. Thank you.

Mohammed Abdulrahman  Hi Kristian 
Congratulations for your rapid recovery. I l knew that you are under antibiotics. Why you are taking the long-term course of antibiotics?,  have you infected with endocarditis ever?. In last year 2021, i had infected with covid-19 or something like amazing unknown  inflammation. The doctor has prescribed course of antibiotics for 17 days. But yesterday , another doctor said that 17 days antibiotics are not enough to get rid off the bacterial infection in the heart muscle, at least 6 weeks because of the bacteria to be as hidden in the heart and should take lot of time to eliminate from them

Kristian M.  Hey Mohammed, yes, I was unfortunately infected with endocarditis prior to my surgery. I was 2 weeks under antibiotics first and although I had no bacterial in my bloodstream it was kinda too late, a vegetation had formed in my bicuspid valve and made a perforation, I still didn't have any symptoms, but it was sure time for surgery. After surgery, I was told I need to remain on antibiotics for an additional 6 weeks in order to make sure this infection is gone for sure. I still remember when my surgeon told me that there was no way to take that infection out if it wasn't thru surgery. I am just glad I am done and hoping this never happens again. I saw in your story that doctors are thinking you may have contracted endocarditis?? I would urge you to double check on this and have them do some blood cultures, and if it's the case, please be on top of it and get your antibiotic treatment as soon as possible. Endo is no joke and I wish this to no one.

Mohammed Abdulrahman  Actually, when i was infected with inflammation, i did 3 blood culture test and all the tests were clean without any signs of bacteria in blood. But the doctor guessed that the bacteria might be in the heart and not in blood stream. The symptoms i faced , where lasting 4 months, were cough, fever, anemia, gradual loss of appetite red urine and lately spleen enlargement. After the antibiotic course has been finished, everything returned as normal and i recovered my health and energy. However, the Echo outcomes revealed that the blood leak of aortic valve is severe.

Klara Čičić  Same here. Baby aspirin for life after three months of warfarin. Bisoprolol stayed the same as before surgery, but I am hoping to take that one off one day, or at least reduce the dose in consultation with my cardiologist ofcourse :)

Angela Meletiadis  Im taking acenocoumarol for six months, the dosage of which is regulated based on my INR figures. I have to avoid foods with high levels of vitamin K, like leafy greens, brocolli, etc while taking this med. At about six months postop, I will be put on a Holter in order to determine if I can stop taking acenocoumarol and change to salospir (asprin), which doesn't require so much monitoring. I'm looking forward to eating more leafy vegetables. 

Brady Busch  I wonder,is Acenocoumarol like Warfarin,where people can eat high vitamin K foods,but the intake has to be consistent,daily?

Angela Meletiadis  Not sure. Apparently I ate too much green stuff over the past two weeks and my INR was too low. So my dose of acenocoumarol was increased a bit. I don't understand much about it, I'm looking forward to stopping it all together.

Jay Burgess  Baby aspirin for life and warfarin for two months. Can’t wait to get off that. Otherwise no other pills besides the two I take for other things. 

Lorri Berardo  I am only on baby aspirin.  I was on Toprol XL a week free my surgery but I normally have low blood pressure.  My cardiologist took me off of it so now just baby aspirin.

Adam Pick  Great question. I do not take any medications after my Ross Procedure. Here's some info from Dr. Gerdisch about baby aspirin. https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/learning/baby-aspirin/

Timothy Andre  I just spoke with my surgeon today regarding my meds. As you know I am a Ross patient and I am 6 months post-op.  He agreed it is time for me to ween off my meds. I cut the dosage in half today and will do so for a month. Then I will cut the dosage in half again for another month. After two months I should be good to go. He also told me I am ok to stop taking aspirin today.  Everyone is different and unfortunately there is no black and white answer for this.  My cardiologist had different ideas as did my primary care doctor.  For that reason I contacted my surgeon because I trust his opinion above all.  After I am off my meds I will continue to monitor my BP to make sure all is good. Barring no sudden increases I then can continue living life  without any meds.  This is one of the main reasons I chose the Ross Procedure.  

Rose Madura  I have been on Metoprolol Succinate 25 mg per day, Amlodipine 2.5 mg per day and 81mg of aspirin every other day.  The first two take care of BP and keep my heart rate lower. I take the aspirin every other day because I sometimes need to take ibuprofen, both of which can be hard on the stomach. And I'll most likely take them forever.

Ana Brusso  Congratulations Kristian. You are doing great. Welcome to recovery. Continued good health and God bless you 

Adam Pick  Wonderful update! And, like you, I also had moments of high heart rates after the surgery. In time, that went away!

Timothy Andre  Great update Kristian!! You're doing amazing at 4 weeks. Keep up the good work. I too had some high heart rates but like Adam said, it went away eventually. God bless you

Timothy Andre  Welcome to recovery Kristian. Oh the cough and sneeze!! You brought me back to 5 months ago. An experience I wont soon forget. Take it one day at a time and don't rush yourself. Each and every day you will get a tiny bit better. Good luck with your follow up appointment and God bless you

Mohammed Abdulrahman  Do not care kristian, everything would be better in the end. For pain you are suffering from, ask your doctor to prescribe pain killer. 
The most important thing , rather than the pain ,is the heart function; heart rhythm and regularity. If these are good everything will be good

Kristian M.  Timothy, thank you for those words I truly appreciate it!!

Mohammed, your right, as long as everything else is good is what matters. I will keep updates. Thank you.