Hello Everyone. I just had the 3 year anniversary of my surgery in which my aortic valve was replaced and I am doing well and am feeling great. With my ...Read more
Hello Everyone. I just had the 3 year anniversary of my surgery in which my aortic valve was replaced and I am doing well and am feeling great. With my anniversary occurring, i was wondering what other patients do to celebrate/acknowledge their surgery? I understand that everyone may have their own unique way of celebrating (even with no celebration at all) but thought I would ask the community. Thank you.
Marie Myers Without Covid, we went out to dinner, my choice of restaurant of course. With Covid, I made a favorit ... Read more
Marie Myers Without Covid, we went out to dinner, my choice of restaurant of course. With Covid, I made a favorite at home. We are starting to get out again, though. Happy Anniversary, and I wish you many healthy years!
Rose Madura I would simply give thanks to God more so than any other day. I lole Marie's idea of dinner out to c ... Read more
Rose Madura I would simply give thanks to God more so than any other day. I lole Marie's idea of dinner out to celebrate!
I’m with Rose and Marie. Happy anniversary Ted. God bless you
Rita Savelis Happy upcoming anniversary Ted. Congratulations. Do what feels right! I myself don't do anything to c ... Read more
Rita Savelis Happy upcoming anniversary Ted. Congratulations. Do what feels right! I myself don't do anything to celebrate.... but I write a post about the previous year. It's been 6 years for me. And most people don't post when they are that far along, so we rarely hear about 10 years out or 20 years out. Take care.
Barbara Wood Yesterday was my 4 year mitral valve repair anniversary. My husband & I had a fish fry & walked on th ... Read more
Barbara Wood Yesterday was my 4 year mitral valve repair anniversary. My husband & I had a fish fry & walked on the beach the evening before my surgery & we have repeated that most years as our celebration. The ocean is my happy place.
Being that I recently had my surgery and am still in the post-operative process, I have an idea that might be useful to other heart valve surgery patients. ...Read more
Being that I recently had my surgery and am still in the post-operative process, I have an idea that might be useful to other heart valve surgery patients. Once I was discharged from the hospital, there were MANY instructions given to me for which I became responsible. These daily tasks included taking my blood pressure, taking my medication, taking walks, taking my temperature, weighing myself, washing my incision, using my spirometer, etc.
Because I was trying to be a good patient and recover in a timely manner, I created a notebook (log) in which I tracked all this information. The notebook allowed me to remember to do everything that I needed to do every day as well as it allowed me to track my progress over the days and weeks after my operation. As I was completing the log every day, it struck me that I could not be the first AVR patient that was required to handle their own care and track all of this information. So, I created a tracking form that I used for my benefit that I thought would also be helpful to other post-op patients. (Please see attached). Of course, all the data points I included may not apply but at least it could serve as a starting point to other post-op patients or at least, inspire them to create their own log.
Diane Maher Ted, this sounds very interesting ...sorry but I don’t see an attachment.
Kelly Stoll Ted, thanks for sharing. My husband helped me do something similar, because it was all overwhelming. ... Read more
Kelly Stoll Ted, thanks for sharing. My husband helped me do something similar, because it was all overwhelming. Huge help to have a log.
Ok- I was 12 days post AVR surgery and doing really well. But, I then went into AFIB and was readmitted to the hospital. They had to shock me out of AFIB ...Read more
Ok- I was 12 days post AVR surgery and doing really well. But, I then went into AFIB and was readmitted to the hospital. They had to shock me out of AFIB and I was feeling better. But, overnight the monitor picked up some ATACH and VTACH episodes. Apparently, the clinical staff is very concerned about the VTACHs. Anyone have experience with these post surgery and if there was a root cause discovered or if there are any experiences people can share?
Thank for for reading.
Jennifer Barnett I had two afib episodes after mitral valve replacement surgery, one at 8 days and one at 10 days post ... Read more
Jennifer Barnett I had two afib episodes after mitral valve replacement surgery, one at 8 days and one at 10 days post op. Luckily I was still in hospital at this time as I was receiving introvenous antibiotics. I received amiodarone which successfully reduced my heart rate as the doctors didn't want me to have cardioversion. Having a fib after heart surgery is quite common as the hearts electrical system becomes disorganised and disturbed after the surgery. My heart was all over the place after surgery ranging from 30 bpm to 170 bpm. Also was not in sinus rhythm alot of the time and in junctional bradycardia some of the time and I had episodes of irregular SVT. The doctors were concerned about this and I was told I would need a pacemaker and would go back to hospital 10 days after discharge for this to be done.
However after discharge my doctor didn't agree with the pacemaker procedure and convinced the hospital doctors to allow me more time so they agreed to a another month and further monitoring by holter monitior. After two 48 hour holter monitor checks they agreed that a pacemaker wasn't now required. My doctor was pleased and said she thought my heart just needed to settle down after the surgery get used to the new valve and learn to work correctly again. I started walking everyday only a little at first but now I walk 30-60 mins a day my heart is now fine and has remained in sinus rhythm. I still take 26.5 mg metoprolol daily but the cardiologist said I can come off it anytime now. It is now almost a year since surgery and I feel great.
Hope this helps to hear of my experience and best of luck with getting back into a normal sinus rhythm.
Chris Purvis Ted I know you posted this yesterday but wanted to see if you had any more updates? Hope your doing b ... Read more
Chris Purvis Ted I know you posted this yesterday but wanted to see if you had any more updates? Hope your doing better man!
Ted Rich Thanks for sharing your experiences and your kind words and support. I had a cardiac MRI today am aw ... Read more
Ted Rich Thanks for sharing your experiences and your kind words and support. I had a cardiac MRI today am awaiting the results. They are trying to determine if this is ‘normal’ post-op stuff or if there are other issues with my heart.
Ted Rich My MRI is showing scar and they want to an EP test to see if a defibrillator is needed. And I thoug ... Read more
Ted Rich My MRI is showing scar and they want to an EP test to see if a defibrillator is needed. And I thought I was just getting a new aortic valve......
Rose Madura Hi Ted. Im not a doctor, but unfortunately I think the VTACH may be separate from the valve problem. ... Read more
Rose Madura Hi Ted. Im not a doctor, but unfortunately I think the VTACH may be separate from the valve problem. Your doctor can tell you fkr sure. About 10 years ago I had SVT and an ablation took care of it. Can they do an ablation? I'm sorry you have to go through this.
Pretty nervous. Trying to be strong and positive but having difficulty. Nervous for my wife. Nervous for my kids. Scared that I won't be there for them. ...Read more
Pretty nervous. Trying to be strong and positive but having difficulty. Nervous for my wife. Nervous for my kids. Scared that I won't be there for them. Going to be some rough weeks ahead. Putting my faith in Dr. Bavaria and the team at HUP. Even though it is all brand new to me, they are the experienced experts.
Marie Myers I was very nervous also. You have a great doctor at a great hospital. And you are right, they are th ... Read more
Marie Myers I was very nervous also. You have a great doctor at a great hospital. And you are right, they are the experienced experts and will do the right thing for you. It is a scary time, but you can do this! We will be welcoming you to the recovery side soon!
veronica gunthner Hi Ted, you didn't show up on upcoming surgeries! I'm scheduled tomorrow and am nervous too. I under ... Read more
veronica gunthner Hi Ted, you didn't show up on upcoming surgeries! I'm scheduled tomorrow and am nervous too. I understand trying to be strong for your mate and family, but we're pretty vulnerable right now. It's hard to put your life in someone else's hands, but they are capable hands and not doing anything is a death sentence. I'll see you on the other side. 😊
Bonnie Stone-Hope Hello Ted,
I had my surgery in December (mitral valve repair) and doing fine.
Also, my childhood frie ... Read more
Bonnie Stone-Hope Hello Ted,
I had my surgery in December (mitral valve repair) and doing fine.
Also, my childhood friend just had his aortic valve replaced a few weeks ago and he is doing great also.
It is wonderful how this surgery is now so successful.
Wishing you the best!
God bless.
Ivana Okereke Good luck and wishing you a speedy recovery!
Michael Eichhorn Hi Ted, I have the same worries and understand completely. Letting go of the wheel and trusting the p ... Read more
Michael Eichhorn Hi Ted, I have the same worries and understand completely. Letting go of the wheel and trusting the professionals is the only choice. Avoiding surgery is not an option for me. So, Let go...Let God. May your journey be blessed and I look forward to joining you on the healing side of this journey!
Willie Radl Keep your head up Ted and stay positive. It will be over before you know it and you'll be back to yo ... Read more
Willie Radl Keep your head up Ted and stay positive. It will be over before you know it and you'll be back to your old self in no time. Wishing you all the best!!
Kelly Stoll Hi Ted. As everyone else has said, good luck and stay positive. The recovery will be surreal, but eve ... Read more
Kelly Stoll Hi Ted. As everyone else has said, good luck and stay positive. The recovery will be surreal, but everything is kind of surreal at first. Hang in there and best wishes to you.
Ted Rich Thanks everyone for your support and kind words. Tomorrow is the day I get my Canadian-bovine valve ... Read more
Ted Rich Thanks everyone for your support and kind words. Tomorrow is the day I get my Canadian-bovine valve.
Alex Sagan Hi Ted. Thinking about you. I have twins, too, and they worked about me when I had my AVR this March. ... Read more
Alex Sagan Hi Ted. Thinking about you. I have twins, too, and they worked about me when I had my AVR this March. I was definitely scared going into surgery, but deep breathing helped me relax and visualize a good outcome. I hope you will read this greatly relieved after a successful surgery!