Surgery is set for 5 April 2011

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Rosebud54

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Messages
77
Location
Sterling, VA
Surgeon told me that valve selection is a personal choice and it's mine to make. I think I'm going with the Mechanical Valve, don't want to go through this again...I'm 56. I also will have the aortic root replaced. Wish me luck!
 
Hey Rosebud,
My surgery is set for 4/6 Weds @ Cleveland Clinic. I haven't yet made a FIRM decision, but I'm leaning toward tissue. My concern is the meds (I travel a lot) Have varicose veins & other vein problems. Where are you having your AVR done? and is it only the fact that it theoretically will eliminate further surgery?
I'm still kinda on the fence with on-x mechanical valve, they now have one with the aortic root attached, less scaring they're even doing studies on reducing the amount of coumadin.
Is this your 1st or a re-op?
I WISH YOU LOTS OF LUCK & that the surgery goes by REAL FAST
Daiva
 
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Hi Diva,

I am having my surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital. I picked a mechanical since I'm 56 and don't want to go through this again. I also have a a TAA and that will be fixed, as well. I don't like having to take coumandin, but the FDA has approved another med that I might be able to take later on vice the comadin the surgeon said. After about 2 months I will test my INR at home. Good luck to you as well!!!

Carol
 
Home testing is clearly a Good Thing, Carol. It makes the whole ACT thing less of a burden and also improves results, decreasing the "twin" risks of the situation. Do you know which mech valve(s) they're using at Bethesda? The On-X is a popular choice around here, though I'd also consider the ATS, because of the lower noise levels and the (conflicting) claims between ATS and On-X on clotting rates and the need for ACT. I think the St. Jude is the most popular and seems to work fine, though I'd be tempted by one of the others. (I wouldn't count on ever getting off Coumadin, either through On-X "magic carbon" or through the next new ACT drug.)

Good luck, all!
 
Rosebud,
Welcome to the Waiting Room.!!!!! My doctor left the choice of valves up to me and I am finding that to be the hardest decision I have to make. My surgery is March 17 and I am still not 100% positive, but I will give him at least a 10 minute notice before the surgery of my choice :) He said this is a personal choice....but I did ask him what I felt was an important question in my decision. I asked " Since I am having a triple bypass as well as my bicuspid valve replaced ...if I get the Mechanical, that should last for my lifetime ( I am 59 )...will I ever need OHS again, or will the bypasses last for life as well ?" The answer was ... "since I have CAD, they will in all probability need to be replaced again, in 10-15 yrs...depending on my diet etc." So I guess, I started thinking about, if this is the case....why trouble myself with taking a blood thinner and testing for a therapeutic level... if I will have to have OHS again anyway. I have thought ... maybe they will come up with a new drug for CAD, thus avoiding the need for future OHS surgery, they may develop a way of getting to my heart, without having to use the Black & Decker saw,to open the whole sternum up again, ( and I may be lucky enough to have someone in my area ,who is a Master at performing this type of surgery) and looked at all the data with our age factored in.... have looked at tons of studies, on both tissue and mechanical....am trying to read here about what everyone else choose, to the point it has exhausted me. But what I am realizing....is that for me, in my case...I have to go with what they know now, what is the best at this moment in time...as I do not know what the future holds, thus, I have decided not to factor any future break through in..... so I will call him by Friday, and either moo, neigh or oink :)
Best of Luck and many positive caring hugs !!!
Renee
 
Thanks for a the well wishes. My doctor is Dr. John Thurber, Chief Cardiothoracic Surgeon at the Bethesda Naval Hospital.
 
Natina - I would ask the surgeon to recheck the statistics he cited regarding bypass patency. If I remember correctly, the life span of a bypass graft varies with the source of the graft, with sapphenous vein (leg vein) grafts often lasting only 7 to 10 years (not sure of the failure rate, but somehting like 50%) BUT if the graft can be taken from the left interior mammary artery (LIMA), many are still performing properly at 15 years or more. I guess it depends on how many grafts you need, but since I needed only one, we chose the mammary artery and it should do fine for a long time.
 
Steve
He did say he would use my mammary artery , not sure if he can get all 3 done from my chest.....he said leg was second choice. So the time frame he gave me, was for his first choice . I called his office Thursday, as soon as I read a thread here about a connection between BAV/CTD and brain aneurysm .....and the need for the MD to know there is a family history of this. They recommend an MRI be done....which, I have not had. ( I have a sister who had one at 40, and a daughter who had a stroke at 19 ) Unfortunately...my Doctor was out of town till next week, so I told his nurse. Gesh.....sometimes too much info so close to our surgery date, causes added anxiety....
How are you doing at home ? Are you having any of the severe muscle pains ,such as Allison is experiencing ? I hope not, for your sake... I am more concerned about what laying flat for all that time, on a hard surface will do to me, in regard to back/muscle pain, than to sternum pain, actually. Weird.....
Your in my prayers,wishing you a speedy recovery.....and all sunny positive days :)
Renee
Go Team 2011 !!!
 
I had my aortic valve replaced about a year and a half ago at Deborah Heart & Lung Center and went with the tissue valve (pig). If you go with the mechanical valve you will have to blood thinners for the rest of your life. My surgeon advised me that even if the tissue had to be replaced after 15 or 20 years at that point in time it will be done via catheter not with open heart surgery. Good luck with any choice you make.
 
I had a Heart Cath and a TEE today. The long hose down my throat was uncomfortable, but bearable. No blockage at all and BAV is working pristine. I was told this before, that is why they did the TEE, to see how bad my BAV is. I don't know if I will be getting a new valve on 5 Apr, yet...but I still have to have the OHS for the anyureysm. The cardo said, maybe in 20 years I'd need a valve. Well, I'll be 77 then, if I live that long. Maybe they will be able to insert valve through an artery by then.
 
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