I'm on four years since I got my St. Jude's mechanical valve and the ticking is still there. It has gotten a little quieter over the years and most of the time I pay no attention to it. I can hear it if I think about it, but there is no "constant ticking" in my life.
Or in my head for that matter.
It does get louder during strenuous physical activity so, yeah, my partner may hear it during sex, but she (my wife by the way) doesn't mind because it's a sign of life to her and very reassuring.
For those who are about to go under the knife, I first noticed my valve several days after I woke up. Mind you, I had a rougher ride than most spending five weeks on a vent before coming back to the world, but it was still a few days later before I really noticed the valve and then I couldn't not listen to it.
You WILL get used to it. You WILL forget that it's there and you will have to focus in order to hear it after a while.
This is good.
My valve is a part of me, but it doesn't run my life and except for taking medications twice a day, there is very little thought that I give to my valve these days.
However, in saying that, there is a demo St. Jude's valve that I got from some company reps I met last fall stuck to a peg board on my cubicle wall at work.
I figure the day I can't hear my valve, even when I am trying to listen for it, is going to be a very bad day for me. Beyond that, the ticking means I'm still doing the Timex thing, I've taken the licking (oh boy did I get licked!) and I'm still ticking and will be doing so for a VERY very long time.
See my post in the Active Lifestyles forum for my latest new "hobby."
