Rebecca's Journal

June 29th I’m 7 months out and feeling so wonderful! Today my sister Linda is in surgery to replace her aortic valve - I would love prayers for her, her surgeon, and medical team ❤️ Thank you!

OHS for aortic valve replacement with an Edwards Inspiris Resilia. It lasted about 4 hours I needed one unit of blood. They found nothing else that needed repair thank goodness ❤️ So the surgery was pretty straightforward. I am still in ICU on day7 but I’m moving to step down tomorrow. I had some problems with low blood pressure and and really huge amount of edema that needed to be monitored. I had the chest wires and 2 drains taken out 2 days ago and a neck tube yesterday, so down to one chest drain that might come out tomorrow. My real turning point has been day #6. I had an amazing surgeon At OHSU, Dr Song. He’s bothered compassionate and highly skilled and experienced. The other doctors and nurses are the same compassionate and well—trained medical professionals that make my stay here comfortable. The view is amazing, I’ll post a pic iof Mt Hood from my room. A big thank you to Adam Pick and all of the heart warriors that make this such a great site for information, encouragement and support ❤️ Glad to be on the mending side!

From my OHSU ICU room, overlooking Portland, OR and Mt Hood❤️

So thankful for Adam Pick, the book he wrote and the commu he created, the many heart warriors who share knowledge and encouragement, my wonderful surgeon, Dr Song,, my hubby and daughters who support me so much, and for Jesus my Savior and Great Physician ❤️ Feeling overwhelming love , peace, and gratitude

I had an appointment last week with my surgeon at Oregon Health and Science University and we talked about valves for my aortic valve replacement on November 29th. I had learned here about the Edwards Inspiris Resilia and asked him about it but he said it was very new and at first recommended the one he uses a lot - the Edwards Magna. He said it lasted a long time, was proven, and could also be a valve in valve when I needed another replacement. He had me talked into it but then he offered to research the Resilia and find out if it’s available in Oregon and to see how it’s doing in patients. He will call me tomorrow to tell me what he’s found out. My question to the heart warriors ❤️ here is, even if he’s able to get the valve, should I stick with the Magna because he’s very experienced with it? He’s done over 3,000 open heart surgeries with about half of those on valves.

Also, wondering about caffeine- I’ve cut down from 2 cups a day to 1. Should I cut it out completely these last few days before surgery in hopes of avoiding AFIB? Or is caffeinated coffee ok after surgery and not considered a trigger?

Thanks for any input or suggestions! I’ve been learning so much here!❤️