Page's Journal

Moussa hojeij  hello, I'm 21 years old, and it is been 12 weeks since my surgery and haven't used yet any gel for my scar, i hope someone could help us.

Anita Heyneke  I work for a plastic surgeon and we always tell our facelift patients that it does not matter what type of cream/oil you use, it is in fact the stimulation of the nerves under the skin, which you want to do at this stage. Best for that, is good old simple Vaseline or baby oil! We have very good results with this method

Travis Ederer  Check out a product called “Mederma”. Lots of patients have mentioned it on this site in response to similar questions.

Deena Elani  Your young and your scar will improve even faster than most!
stay out of the direct sun on your chest and rub any oil, as they said above on it. give yourself some time:)

Rita Savelis  I also recommend staying out of the sun completely for a year. Then your scar color will eventually match the rest of your skin and it will be much less visible. But it needs some time. Take care.

Michael Andreas  Page,
Edward's Lifesciences is a fantastic company that makes the valve in my aortic position due to my bicuspid valve. Before the virus they would invite 50 patients and caregivers for a all expenses paid tour of their facilities. They call it patients day and it was a great experience that I had the fortune to experience.
My advice to you would be always get a second opinion. Choose a hospital that is in the top 10 percent that has specialty in your need. Choose a doctor that has performed the procedure you require some ridiculous number of times (thousands). Use this site to read all of their reviews. Have all your questions written down ( helps in times of emotional news). Be open to expert advise. ( dont pick your procedure based on the size of your incision) My full sternum scar is barely noticable. Your very young and will a long healthy life after your surgery.

Joey Hardee  Hi Page! Welcome to the club! The Edwards Inspiris Resilia valve is ticking away in my heart right now. I am 56, almost 18 months out from my replacement (Bentall procedure) and I chose to go with the valve because I am still very active and like to workout, play golf and tennis, etc. I also chose it because it is made to accept a valve via TAVR when it starts to fail. The valves being developed now for installation via TAVR look to be very promising for function and durability. I would certainly advise looking into your options with multiple surgeons/cardiologists. What I found during my experience and research is that cardiologists definitely have different ideas about valve replacement and there isn't one "school of thought", Michaels advice of having all your questions with you when you talk to the doctors is spot on. If not, you will not ask everything you need to ask. I feel super confident in my choice with the Edwards Resilia but I am at a different age and have different circumstances. Its a personal decision but the great news is that you have choices to make and this isn't an emergency, You might be a candidate for repair. You might choose to have a Ross procedure. Then there are several replacement options. You have time to pick your procedure, your valve, your surgeon and your center. If there is anything I can answer, I am happy to. You'll be just fine.

Kevin Lee  I had a bicuspid aortic valve until 2016. This was before the TAVR was available and so the best option was the On-X mechanical valve. Did the Cardiologist suggest that a repair was an option or is that just something that you are preferring?

Carlos Banuelos  Hi, sorry to hear you’re going through this at such a young age. Definitely a personal decision and one which is not easy especially for younger patients like us. At 44 I chose the on-x mechanical valve. Repair would have been my first choice but that wasn’t an option. First, I would go to a top rated heart hospital like Cleveland Clinic, Mayo or Cedars Sinai and get another opinion even if you ultimately don’t have your procedure done there. Some doctors may tell you they can repair instead of just replacing your valve. Of course, the biggest downside to the mechanical valve is being on blood thinners. My father, who’s a physician, has many patients of all ages with mechanical valves who live normal, active lives on blood thinners so I felt pretty informed that the benefit of having a valve that should last longer than a tissue valve was greater than the downside of being on a blood thinner. Now that I’ve recovered, my lifestyle has not changed at all. I still play sports, drink, and eat whatever I want. Many vegetables to affect your INR but the doctors just dose around your normal diet. This weekend I surfed for about 6 hours and did two 3 mile runs, so don’t let people tell you that you can’t be active with a mechanical valve. Of course, you can’t play tackle football or rugby but that’s about it. I would also inquire about the Ross procedure to see if that’s something that might work for you, but would only have it done by a handful of surgeons in the US who have a lot of experience doing that surgery. It wasn’t for me but others seem to have had good results from it. Feel free to reach out directly if you want to discuss or have more questions.

  Hi Page, thinking of you and will pray for your surgery to be successful and a speedy recovery. God bless you

Ken M  I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve and had my first surgery done in 1960 at 10 years old at Boston Children's Hospital, a procedure they called at the time (this was 1960) a valvotomy. That lasted until I was 34 and the doctor's replaced my valve with a bovine valve in 1984. Unfortunately that only lasted 10 years and at age 44 in 1994 that valve was replaced with a St Jude mechanical valve. That was 26 years ago and although I am on Coumadin I have continued to do downhill skiing, hiking, biking and kayaking. Indeed I' have a season pass for a ski area in NH about an hour from where I live and look forward to skiing this winter and I'm now 70 years old. I can't comment on childbirth as I'm a male but obviously the doctors can advise you. Best wishes.

Stephen Lynch  Hi Page, I had surgery 6 weeks ago. Found out last July I needed surgery and that I had a bicuspid aortic valve. I’m 29 years old. The recovery isn’t that bad at all from my experience. The first week after surgery you’ll be in hospital. You’ll just be a bit more tired then usual and might take a nap during the day that you wouldn’t usual take as your body heals. This applies for the first 3/4 weeks. I didn’t feel any pain with the pain killers I was on.

You should live with parents/family if possible for the first few weeks after your hospital stay so as they can do the day to day things for you as you focus on resting and recovery. You might have more energy some days followed by less energy the following day which is normal as you recover. You’ll be walking each day as part of your cardiac rehab. As the days go on you’ll find yourself getting stronger and stronger.

One thing you should ask your cardiologist is if your surgery could be done by way of mini sternotomy where they cut the top approx 4 inches of your sternum rather then the full sternum. I received this for my surgery as I told my cardiologist I do weight training and said this approach would help the stability of my sternum for weight training in the future, it also reduces the recovery time and reduces the scar. Not all surgeons do this, in Ireland where I’m from there’s only one surgeon in the country who does this approach and thankfully he did my surgery. This may help you with playing sports etc.

I can’t comment on having children and I do weights and running which are not effected my Warfarin use so I can’t comment on contact sports either.

Hopefully the above is helpful to you and please let me know if you have any other questions. Wishing you all the best.

Page Barnes  Thanks Ken and Stephen! That information was very encouraging to hear. Glad to hear y’all are doing so well after the surgeries!