Richard's Journal

Richard Munson  Some of us celebrate veterans DAY while other groups get a month.  Others get a month due to the sacrifices of  veterans. Whats wrong with that picture.

Rose Madura  Agreed!  I look at it this way....every day is a gift.  If I didn't have the surgery, I wouldn't be here now.  

Suzette Schear  I’m grateful and realized it’s beyond my control to know.  I think for me it’s a  fear of having to go through it again .  I don’t like the unpredictability and if I will have time to plan or another emergency with reactionary organization.  The results of being fully independent and needing help

Richard Munson  Actually its a downsize. I used to run 4 miles. After 80, it all goes downhill. The rain did not last long. We are also in a drought. I recall my surgeon telling me during my covid heart surgery because there was no rehab, that walking was the best medicine after hvs. I believe that to be true. Plus a positive outlook. Not healthy when everything is a negative. My nancy missed a weeks work after her breast cancer surgery. No one at work knew she had it. And yes, we had a top loader. Now she uses a little stool being a midget. 

Kimberly Eisenhut  That is amazing Richard! Yes, positivity makes a huge difference. I hope to be able to walk 4 miles after my surgery, that would be wonderful!

Robert Miller  You should send a picture with Shadow sitting in the back enjoying the wind from driving around in this nice car. 

Kimberly Eisenhut  I do not think Shadow is allowed in this classic, as he may scratch and ruin interior I am guessing. He looks good beside it though :) As do you Richard!

Kimberly Eisenhut  Wow, amazing! I do hope he stops having them though and you can get some answers. He is looking good, as are you 💗😊

Richard Munson  Doggie update. Callie played very husky rough all day with shadow but he gave it right back. Once they left, he sacked out on the bed and slept right thru supper. 

Kimberly Eisenhut  So happy to see you had a good day Richard. What a lovely family and beautiful pups❤️ Good for Shadow, holding his own💪

Richard Munson  Hope my friend and fellow mgh heart valve warrior robert in maine sees this picture from his mentor and siberian husky lover.

Richard Munson  He knows it. Our dog training class has a big mirror on one wall that we use to insure handler and dog are sitting and standing straight. straight. Dog always on left side. He loves to look at himself or maybe its me he is staring at. 

Ana Brusso  So glad to see this picture as I have been missing our Shadow’s pictures for a while. He knows how to pose for sure. What a loving pose of all of you. Thank you! 🙏❤️😘😍

Suzette Schear  R u you sure it’s shadow that’s the ham?  Awesome pic Richard.  You see the shadow ‘s love for you. 

Richard Munson  J knows his ties. And custom made suit for his senior co op position. Seems like overkill but whatever. He is a great student and person. Very proud. 

Rose Madura  😂 Happy Anniversary!  Is today the day? It is mine and my Richard Edward's anniversary today.  

Ana Brusso  I beat you all we had 113 degrees, awful. Richard glad you had a car show. I know how much you love them.

Richard Munson  I feel better now knowing it is not just me. Maybe an adam software issue. Hopefully he reads this. Thanks. My ipad is not elderly but i am. 

Suzette Schear  Richard it had to move to the center, you seem to always be the center of attention lol. I think it could be cookies or changes to the website.  I actually got locked out for a while

Richard Munson  I’m doing it. I want a leg up on everyone else. Can i call it tibia trauma ?  Rose will want me to get a second opinion.

Richard Munson  Yes, maybe she needs a height transplant. She has little womans disease. It might be cheaper to just find a taller woman. Younger of course. Just kidding. 

Kimberly Eisenhut  Thank you for the chuckle tonight, going for my "patch testing" tomorrow to see if they can use the CLASP 11 trial to fix my tricuspid valve. I have to wear the patches with nickel alloy and titanium along with some other things for 2 days, see if I get a bad reaction to them, then go back and have them removed and hopefully be able to move forward with some sort of plan. Virtual apt with interventional cardiologist on July 7th for valve teams update and plan for me. Trying to stay positive and I appreciate the levity Richard, Marie, J Alexander! Have a good evening

Richard Munson  I considered some great come backs to jal. But then decided that silence was more prudent. The next couple of days are forecasted to be 90 plus so keeping shadow cool is a priority. 

Pamela Gregory  Definitely! Also had a huge tree swing that we would jump off of onto a mattress! We would pull the mattress out a little bit father each time to see if we could make it onto it till someone didn't Definitely wouldn't see that now!

Suzette Schear  Did that with my friends grandchildren a couple of weeks ago.  Yes they still come out of the ground , but I did slow down so it would stop.  I guess I’m an adult now.

Richard Munson  Our little warrior goes nuts when he hears drums and marching bands so i plan to take him for a long drive while the parade goes by the house. Happy memorial day to all veterans and their families. 

Klara Čičić  Wow, congratulations, Richard, you must be very proud. Opened the page after a looong time, and find this post first, Ana in the comments - phew, everything is alright, Earth is still spinning😂😂 like I never left... Sending lots of love 

Corey Potter  Good points, Richard.  I waited too long for hip replacement surgery and after having two of them done,  regret waiting so long and experiencing unnecessary pain.  I decided this past week to move forward on my AVR and setting a date for sometime in July.  i have seen enough progression over the past five years and my cardiologist at Cleveland Clinic said he supports my decision to move forward.  I do have symptoms that can't be attributed to anything else and my heart is showing signs of change, although seems to have compensated well.  It's not going to improve, so my thought is, why wait?  It appears Dr. Michael Tong will do the surgery and looking forward to meeting him and discussing the surgery and options.  

Richard Munson  Corey, nice to see you are taking the reins with your own heart. I finally did the same after my see you again in 6 months post echo. It finally came down to get this mitral valve done or i am going someplace else. And this was mass general, in the top tier. All of a sudden it was how about next month.  I think they just needed a nudge. It was then i decided that they know more than me about the inner workings of the heart, but i know more about how i feel. Now, when ever i have a pow wow with my doctors for any issue, not just heart, i arrive armed to the teeth. Its called being large and  in charge of your own health. I am convinced that i give off off a signal of strength and they sense it. So far no clashes. 

Corey Potter  If there is anything I have learned through this process is that you must be your own advocate.  I got to the point where I had information overload and went to get a second opinion.  The 2nd doctor was very helpful, but pretty much reinforced what I already knew.  I decided to stay with Cleveland Clinic.  There is a business side to this and I believe I pushed this along due to getting the 2nd opinion.  My doctor at CC knew I was doing a lot of reading and he said, " you know, when I get in an airplane I don't normally go into the cockpit and ask the pilots technical questions about flying.  I just want to know they can land the plane safely"!  He said some information is obviously good but you have to be careful how much you get into this.  I got his point.  I don't think I'm qualified to debate peak velocity, gradients, etc. with him, although I have found this to be extremely fascinating.  

John Cook  I discovered when my mother had a double lung transplant, major surgery is always a Goldilocks situation: 1) Are you sick enough to warrant the risk of surgery? 2) Are you healthy enough to survive the surgery? 

They are qualitative questions. So doctors measure things to have quantitative data (EF Fraction, diameters, etc.) to help them answer those questions.  The current trend in research and treatment are towards earlier intervention because the risk of surgery and complications are lower and longevity is better.

I’m 52, have severe aortic regurgitation, and no symptoms I’m aware of other than high blood pressure.  I’m a slow runner but ran 2.5 miles on my treadmill yesterday.  I’ll be running a 5k on it tomorrow.

Maybe my ‘symptom’ is that I can’t run faster because my EF Fraction has dropped into the 40s. It’s tough for my body to get oxygen to my muscles when more than half the volume of a heart beat is flowing back into the heart.

My surgery is scheduled in 25 days. Waiting until I get symptoms just seems insane to me. I don’t want my heart to get weaker.  I want to keep running.

Anyone told they have moderate stenosis, regurgitation, or prolapse, should start a conversation with their cardiologist about, “Am I sick enough to warrant surgery? What criteria will you use to make the determination?”

Get a second or third opinion.

In the last year, my EF fraction is down, my dilation is bigger, and my aortic wall is thicker. I’m not feeling it, but I am getting sicker. I don’t need to wait until those problems are so severe that I can’t live the way I want to live.

Richard Munson  All of those things you mention are the hearts way of compensating for the leaking valve. Complicated to be sure but in some ways its not that much different than a mechanical valve in your home that is not closing tight and is allowing whatever liquid it is moving in one direction to move backwards. As it worsens , it allows more and more blood to go in the opposite direction than it is intended. Thats my laymans thought on the subject. Bottom line, it won’t repair itself. 

Fidel Martínez Ruiz  In addition, the atria is enlarge more and more  and after the ventricle, loosing the capacity of contraction and not being able to push forward the blood. If you wait so long, after surgery the heart doesn´t recover any more at the same level. Waiting is not a good solution. 

Fidel Martínez Ruiz  Let me tell you an experience . When after the endocarditis, the surgeon told me the valve was defective and needed surgery, I was scared and try dragging feet telling her it was better to wait a few months, get an ECG, and see what to do. After leaving the office, whose door was open, another surgeon standing a few steps away who had heard my words told me: "Patients sometimes postpone surgery, and it makes us very sad because we can't leave their hearts as healthy as if we had done it early." I went back into the office and told her, go ahead, doctor. This is my little story.

Susan Lynn  When I saw the screen during my cardiac stress test,  I equated all of those flashing 'regurgitating' colors to my heart screaming.  I listened.  Glad I did. 

Glenn Tremper  I'm about where you are as well< Richard.  There is something challenging moving forward when you think you are feeling fine.  I've appreciated comments from others on this issue.  

Susan Lynn  Great photo!!  You realize your grandson probably wouldn't get the Barry Gibb reference!   I loved the BeeGees, too!

Deena Z  Just in case you doubt me…
Here you go:
Plants release chemicals into the air or soil to send messages. For example, if a daffodil is under attack by pests, it might release certain chemicals that warn nearby plants to boost their own defenses.

Suzette Schear  Richard glad shadow didn’t spring a leak.  He’s such a good boy. Looks like he wanted to.  I love it our daffodils, tulips are all opened.  Makes me smile.

Richard Munson  No tulips here yet, but hyacinths are blooming. Awaiting roses rose. Hope the rabbits keep away from the buds this year. I should post shadow to guard them. Sad news: i planted 2 liberty dutch elm resistant elm trees in my yard 25 years ago. There were abundant elm trees in this yard and street before the dutch elm blight. As a kid i remember them. In fact, i live on elm street. They grew into majestic trees but one is dead and alas , i will remove it this summer. Elm trees are beautiful. The disease resistance in liberty elms is not 100% so i hope the other tree survives. It is spread by a beetle. 

Suzette Schear  Elms on elm street. Very clever. Sorry about the trees, that stinks, they ended up cutting a lot of them down in an area by me I was very upset.  They must have taken years to grow should have used building no longer in use, to build whatever they are building Maybe you can grow baby elms once you get rid of the problem. 

Kimberly Eisenhut  Haha! The side eye is great! Those look like tough bones, what kind are they? My two little dogs are such hard chewers all I can get them are Benebones.

Richard Munson  The interesting thing is that behind the evil eye is a heart of gold. Anyone could take that bone and he would not even mind. My beloved cassie however was a horse ( no pun intended) of a different color. She would sever fingers from hand over a toy or food. Not mine of course. We tried a pair of doggie day care facilities when she was little and in both cases before i got home there was a pick up your dog voice mail waiting for me. Another dog tried to take her toy. 

Marie Myers  Yes, my neighbor shamefully confessed to me that her dog was booted from Doggy Day Care. She felt it was a reflection on her mothering skills!

Darrell Malone  I'm still amazed that I went through OHS just a year ago. Blessed for sure, feet on the ground. Thx for that post Richard. 

Kathy Ozio  Very wise words. It was how I found this site- I expected to be feeling back to normal a few weeks after surgery.  I kept seeing all these posts of people hiking 3 weeks after surgery,...Then I found this site and it had real people and all kinds of recoveries. But best lesson was,  it takes time. And it's different for everyone. 

Rose Madura  Well said Richard.  I actually thought I'd be better in 3 months, but it probably took a full year before I felt "normal". Everyone is different and therefore their recoveries are different.  

Richard Munson  Wow, wise beyond my years. But at 83 does that make me a wise guy? Common JAL, mt. Washington? Your sights are too low. Everest or bust.

Robert Miller  My BIL is a pretty famous surgeon but he was amazed at what he saw when I got my OHS. It is indeed pretty amazing. They shut off your heart, collapse your lungs, cut your heart and fix stuff inside. And if you have AFib, they probably do a Maze procedure. Who comes up with all this stuff...

Suzette Schear  I thought I would be better in a year it’s taken a bit more and I was for the most part active and physically fit. Thanks for being honest and starting these post.

Fidel Martínez Ruiz  Open heart or keyhole/minimally invasive?. For me, better endoscopic, less infections, faster recovery but same mortality and both are invasive. I think the giant step in valve surgery will be when surgeons be mastered in interventional cardiology. In Spain just have begun with the tricuspide valve in my hospital. I guess that in States there is implanted in some hospitals. ¿?

Richard Munson  He came into our lives after my surgery so he is truly a heart valve pup. Just turned 3 this week. He has been a great friend and keeps my blood pumping. Time flies. 

Suzette Schear  I’ll read up on it, thanks for posting I love breakthroughs, for the older folks sounds like the beginnings of the bionic man.  

Richard Munson  Yes, i agree being an older folk. I want mine to be made out of gold so i will be remembered as having a heart of gold.