Terrie's Journal

Civita Fahey  Hi Terri, how are you? I was thinking of you this am as I was getting ready for work.. one year ago today we both were getting ready for surgery! Thankfully we are both ok.. I am back to normal myself, just dealing with some PVCs and hopefully the metropolol will take care of it soon.. otherwise feeling blessed and grateful.. I'm so happy to hear you are doing well , I know you had a hard time at the beginning.. I'm sorry to hear about your son.. I'm not a medical person so I cant answer the question, but, I'm sure his BP will straighten out.. maybe he just needs to talk to his pcp.. keep up the good work and so nice to hear from you!.

Terrie Hodges  Have a great day, Civita...good to hear from you this day! I expect, as long as we have memory, we will remember each other this day every year...Almost like a birth day!

Marie Myers  Glad to hear you are doing well! As far as your son's BP goes, it sometimes takes a while to get the right combo of drugs to control BP. Often, 2 drugs are needed on a regular basis. And even then, sometimes an "as needed dose" is added to the mix. It can be frustrating, but there is "no one med fixes all magic ". Hope things get easier for him.
In an unrelated note, I have not seen Catherine DeWitt post in a while. Hope all is well with her.

Terrie Hodges  Thanks, Marie...I think I have Catherine's email...Son is in contact with PCP about BP...Hope you are doing well!!

Marie Myers  I am doing well, thanks for asking. At this point , I feel like the surgery happened in another lifetime!

Civita Fahey  How are you Terrie? all going well here , started rehab two weeks ago. Still getting pretty tired but otherwise pretty well. I'm sorry you had to go through all you did, but praying that you are on the mend ..

Barbara Wood  I was wondering about you as well,Terrie & sorry to read that you've had such a tough time of it. I do hope that you've turned a corner & are on the upswing now. Funny how everyone says the waiting is the hardest part, I've found many challenges in recovery- it can be a scary & confusing time! Best wishes to you :)

Ellen Leng  The balloon pump is meant to take some pressure off of your heart, usually used after surgery if your heart is not responding as planned. Basically it is deployed in your abdominal aorta and the balloon blows up and releases with your cardiac cycle to support circulation
During the surgery you'll be on bypass which is a different type of pump and takes over all of the functions of the heart while the surgeon is doing the job at hand.
Try not to overthink...you'll be fine!

Terrie Hodges  Thanks, Ellen...I have not heard this mentioned by anyone in this community, of course I'm new here...it just sounded like something that would really halt your progress, if you had to stay in bed and not walk...😲Sorry, but I have already overthought🤣

Enrique K  It's a life saving mechanism which is unusual. You will do great Terrie! See you on the other side! Sending you good vibes, thoughts and prayers.

Meredith Bray  No, they don't have to sign in to use the guestbook.
The guestbook is for people to leave you messages.

You & your "writer" leave updates in the Journal section. The journal entries remain in chronological order, no matter when someone comments on them.

Guests can leave comments on your journal entries also.

I'm in Clearwater. I had aortic stenosis & bicuspid aortic valve also, my surgery was March 2014. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you!

-Meredith

Terrie Hodges  Thanks so much, Meredith...congrats on your 3rd anniversary...I may hit you up with some questions...especially after surgery...maybe we could meet up in Clearwater before surgery..Mon. - Friday until 4/21 Ray and I are at Bay Pines for his radiation treatment...terriehodges@aol.com...email me and we can make a plan😊Thanks for answering my question!

Civita Fahey  Terrie everyone on this site has had the same feelings, and its overwhelming.. I am actually having surgery on the same day as you.. so I can't speak to the surgery or after part but can speak to the the anxiety and fear before hand.. there are so many successful stories and you will get many answer to just about any questions you may have.

Steve Farthing  FYI - To one concern you mentioned on your back story, my doc told me that time on the bypass pump is the same whether minimally invasive or thru a sternotomy.

Amy Steele  Hi, Terri! Welcome to the site. I hope I can address some of your questions. I went though aortic valve and root replacement and aneurysm repair six months ago. Due to the aneurysm repair in addition to the other things that need to be done, I had no choice but to have a full sternotomy. (More on that later.) As far as weight gain, I had no problem with fluid retention and went home 4 days after surgery weighing less than when I was admitted. My husband tells me that I was a bit forgetful after surgery, but it was never bad and is gone now. I was on no medications prior to surgery and now only take baby aspirin and metoprolol for some mild atrial flutter which has shown up in the past month. I had a stentless all-in-one pig aortic valve and root, so no coumadin. I did find out yesterday that my sternum hasn't healed correctly, and since I haven't talked with my cardiologist or surgeon, I'm not sure yet how serious it is or what the path is for that. I went through 36 sessions of cardiac rehab and feel strong and fit. I knew that I'd need aortic valve surgery all of my life, so it wasn't a surprise for me. Keep asking questions!

Pat Bluemel  Educate yourself on the what ifs, but don't ruminate on them - nothing comes from it but worry. Think only positive thoughts and you will have only positive outcomes. Amy, my sternum never healed correctly and I am two years out. It gets better just annoying for about a year or so. I can still make it 'click' at parties - so I have a party trick now!

Terrie Hodges  Civita, 4/24/17 we both have surgery....thank you SO much for your response! Your Boston hospital is top rated! Steve, Thank you...Amy and Pat thank you...the depth of caring expressed on this site is Amazing💟

Marie Myers  Hi Terri. I had a MAXI sternotomy due to ascending aneurysm and AVR. Pain is not as bad as I expected. Taking a Vicodan 5 mg at night, 12.5 Lopressor twice a day, baby aspirin, Pepcid, No a fib so far. My biggest complaint was overwhelming fatigue. I normally run a 14 hgb, and went home with an 8.5. Am taking Iron and eating well to build up my blood. This site has been a GodSend for me. Very helpful.

Marie Myers  Just one more thing... I enjoyed reading your story, because, like you, I had no symptoms. Everything was fine. Then my routine Echo shows the aneurysm, 4.8cm. I meet surgeons, cardiologists, have CT scans and cath. My initial thought; major surgery is for "other people"..... Trouble is , we are all those "other people". There is lots of heart surgery going on around the country!

Terrie Hodges  Marie, Thank you...I keep thinking I am in another person's nightmare...and SO ironic always having my son's aortic stenosis in mind and I end up with it...of course, he will be watching me cope so I need to be good....my biggest fear is a reaction to meds...and fighting being resentful and having buyer's remorse for this surgery, if I don't feel like myself for a long time...I feel too immature for this...I am an overthinker, too...glad you are doing so well♡♡

Kathy Blank  I had no symptoms and ran 3 miles a day prior to surgery. I visited 2 cardiologists and 3 surgeons and learned all I could about my severe mitral regurgitation. I also did tons of research and asked many questions during all my appointments. All convinced me that surgery was inevitable and doing it before symptoms would preserve my healthy heart. The way I exerted control over my health was to learn and then choose the best surgeon that performed the type of surgery that would give me the best chance at successful repair. Once I completed all that I trusted my chosen Dr and his team. Then- I exerted control over my attitude and preparation for recovery. Hoping you can find peace with your medical team and run circles around everyone during your recovery!

Rita Savelis  It's normal to be angry about what is happening to you. It's not fair, and I'm sorry you have to go through with OHS. Most people have anxiety about all the things that can happen after surgery, but those do not happen to everyone. I was tired for a long time after OHS but I did not have afib or gain weight. I don't like meds, but many of the post OHS meds were temporary for me (like betablockers). I am on anticoagulants now and have learned to live with them. They are just part of my routine.

In many ways you have to give up control and you have to mourn the seemingly healthy you that now has to deal with not being that healthy inside (even if you don't feel it). One day at a time. You just have to take those steps.
Take care.

Terrie Hodges  Thank you Kathy and Rita for your thoughts....I am extremely grateful I have little past medical adventure experience!!!

Duane Beeman  I was an asymptomatic, athletic, indestructible tough guy before they discovered my heart murmur. The rest is now history !! I did have more time than you, leading up to surgery, to get a grip on what was going on. But if you need to know that you'll be OK, just read my journal I'm still here in spite of the fact that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I hit the trifecta during surgery.....stroke,,,,pulmonary embolism.....aortic dissection...AND they were only going in to replace my aortic valve !! But I'm rocking and rolling today. The human body is a tough thing, but the mind is even tougher. I was on the heart lung machine so long they were afraid I would wake up as an Ohio State Buckeye, but I still remain a University of Michigan Wolverine. Get your game face on and go get 'em. The hospital food is the worst part of the whole thing.....at least the parts I can remember. Don't worry about things that you have no control over. They'll get you through the surgery. Recovery is up to you. Mental toughness was key for me. I found that being ornery was actually a virtue !!

Terrie Hodges  Duane, thanks for your response...geez, why did the surgeon not know all the issues before surgery? (of course, stroke is not totally predictable)...but couldn't they have anticipated things were pretty much on the edge of failure and warned you...I know you are correct...mental toughness is the desired approach...I am glad you cultivated that mindset...surely that has been the driving force behind your recovery...I do have stubborness and competiveness with myself...I realize it is a function of my admitted immaturity that must believe I am too special for this to be happening to...Also, at the time I was told I needed the aortic valve replaced, my husband was due to begin 2 months of radiation treatments along with hormone suppressing shots due to recurrence of prostate cancer, after a radical prostatectomy, April 2016....we had no experience with these multiple blips simultaneously...we were clueless...we were spoiled...we were the "helpers" in our family and community and it is unnatural seeming to be the "helpees" now...probably this is too much information shared...if I knew a great therapist, I would be knocking on their door...I do expect to self correct, at some point...thanks again for your post💟I will read your journal...Terrie

Duane Beeman  Terrie: The dissection and related issues were totally random. There was no way to see them coming. I was fortunate to be in the 25th ranked heart hospital in the country with the chief of thoracic surgery standing over me when it happened. It was only the second time in his lengthy career that he had a dissection occur on the table. I didn't ask what happened to the first guy. Your concern and apprehension are normal. I scratched my head for a year and a half trying to figure out how I ended up in this situation. But at the end of the day, we're here. I'm thankful it is something they can fix. Just remember that there are millions of people out there that would trade places with you in a second if they could. We are the lucky ones.

Cathleen DeWitt  Hi Terrie ❤️ What you are experiencing is normal. It's a reaction to the unknown. I read once that "worrying is a lack of trust" and it's so true. So I decided to find the best surgeon and then trust him to do what he does best. There is no way for any of us to understand what a cardiac surgeon understands. This is what they do with great passion for a living. So I gave up all my worrying and instead I focused all of my energy on being positive and as healthy as possible. Good outcomes always come from that. Being asymptomatic going into surgery is not as uncommon as you may think. I've been a fitness fanatic my whole life too. A bicuspid aortic valve doesn't make someone weak or unable to work out throughout their life. That's a mindset that people either have or don't. There's nothing we can do to stop the process of the aortic valve eventually giving out though. Staying in great shape is the best way to ensure a good outcome. "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready" is my philosophy. I have had my aortic valve replaced four times and was totally asymptomatic before two of the surgeries. That's because there are different ways for an aortic valve to go bad. If it has severe regurgitation, allowing blood to leak backwards into the left ventricle through a floppy valve, most will have symptoms from that like shortness of breath etc. However, with a stenotic valve you can feel almost nothing but still need the valve replaced due to the fact that eventually the pressure of the blood trying to push up through the narrowed valve will become too great and you will experience heart failure. Either way, with a failing valve, you don't feel as good as you think you do. You will feel so much better when the surgery is done and the valve is replaced because right now your blood flow and oxygen levels are compromised and it's hard for your body to keep up with that. It may even be a cause of some of your anxiety because your body knows that something is wrong and that can cause an anxious mind. Try not to be too concerned with every detail of the outcome because the fact remains that this has to be done or you will not survive. If you stay healthy and keep a strong mind you will be ready to face whatever challenges come your way through surgery and recovery. Please let me know if I can help you in any way. ❤️

Terrie Hodges  Cathleen....you certainly are a fountain of knowledge...you must be an incredible nurse...do you work on a cardiac floor or ICU or not currently practicing...No doubt, I will hit you with some questions...you are a fabulous resource ...Thank you💟