Tammy's Posts

Hi Kim, I was 49 when I choose my mechanical valve, just had my six year anniversary with it this week. There are pros and cons whatever you choose, like others I would say go with your gut. I do hear my mechanical valve everyday, however it's probably not like you imagine. It's not an all day sound it's a few seconds in the day when every thing is quite. Maybe first thing in the morning, or may be when you take the dog out but never all day long. They have some pretty good examples of the sounds of the mechanical valve on YouTube. However I will say right after surgery when you have a restless night you will hear it a lot and it will drive you crazy. I yelled at mine one night to just shut up and then realized that's not what I wanted at all. It was doing its job and that's what I wanted!! So if you go with a mechanical give yourself some time, eventually one day your notice that you haven't heard it all day and will sit as still as you can to make sure it's working. The only time it bothers me at all is when I have a nightmare and wake up startled. It does feel and sound like it's beating out of my chest. It doesn't last long and isn't hard to calm afterwards. On the anticoagulant I had problems regulating right after surgery in the hospital. After that I've had no problem. I went to therapy about 4 months after my heart surgery and it really helped me get my confidence back on track being on Coumadin. I have had to have kidney stone surgery since being on it and my doctors worked with me very well to allow me to pick the right surgery to have while being on Coumadin. For me the worse part is the antibiotics you have to take while being on it. Just make sure you eat when you take the antibiotic before your dental cleaning. It may upset your stomach a little. When I had my surgery my doctors had me on antibiotic for a week before, and extra dose during, and then another week after surgery. It was a long haul of antibiotics and my stomach was upset by the end. Was better than doing damage to the heart valve though. I hoped I helped, it's such a confusing and hard time before you make your decision. Just resolve once you've made your decision that this is the right decision for me and I'm willing to do the work to make it work for me. You will do great!! Good Luck! My prayers and thoughts are with you! Tammy