Pannus Growth/On-x discussion

[fencemeister]

My 2 Cents

My 2 Cents

I Was Thrown Into This Situation Just A Month Ago And Had To Make Some Quick Decisions Not Knowing A Damn Thing About Any Of This At All. I Was Born With A Bad Valve And It Took 62 Years To Get To This Point And No One Ever Caught It!

I Came Home From The Dr. After Having Been Told I Need An A.v.r. Very Soon!

Did Not Even Know What To Ask. Got On The Net And To Make A Long Story Short It Became Apparent To Me That The On-x Was A No Brainer For Me. My Doc Never Used One But Is A Young Guy And He Had Been Wanting To Look Into The On-x.

On-x Sent Two Guys To Ft. Wayne, In And Bing -bang (9/6/07) I Was The Proud Owner Of A New Valve Within 10 Days Of Diagnosis!

My Doc Was Very Impressed With The Valve And Stated He Could Put A 2 Size Large Valve In Because Of The Design. He Was Using Carbomedics I Believe. He Was Also Extremely Impressed At How Quiet It Is. And So Am I By The Way. The Only Time I Hear It Is Sitting On The "can" At 2a.m. Or So And Even Then I Can Barley Hear It. Can't Hear It At All Laying In Bed Or Anywhere Else!

It Will Be 3 Weeks Tomorrow And I Am Feeling Fantastic! My Biggest Problem Was The Botched Job Another Doc Did On My Heart Scan To Check For Blocked Arteries Of Which I Had None. They Screwed Up My Leg And It Is Taking Longer To Get It Back Into Shape Than The Operation Itself.

Al Is Right, The O-x Is The Best Choice. And What The Heck Is Wrong With 10 Or 11 Years And 60 Plus Thousand People? Sure Made Me Feel Good About It......AND BY THE WAY 60,000 PEOPLE IS A PRETTY GOOD SIZED CITY WHERE I COME FROM! JUST PICTURE IT!

AT WHAT POINT WOULD SOME OF YOU FEEL "SAFE"?. LIFE IS A GAMBLE EVERY TIME YOU WAKE IN THE MORNING. THE ON-X IS QUIET,( I SEE A LOT OF NOISE CONCERNS ON THIS SITE) DOESN'T "BEAT UP" YOUR BLOOD, HAS LESS TURBULANCE, OPENS A FULL 90 DEGREES, IS CLOSER TO THE SAME SIZE AS THE ONE THEY ARE REPLACING AND ACCORDING TO MY DR. HE COULD SIZE A LARGER ONE THAN WITH HIS OLD VALVE. GET THE INFO AND THEN JUMP IN, THE WATER IS FINE!!

Mike

On-x A.v.r. 9/6/07 And Lov'in It!

 

[PeggyM]

Contrary to what some doctors may say, my native aortic valve had growth on it and my first AVR was a St. Jude. 4 years later it failed with pannus growth. The second valve is a Carbomedics and seems to be doing fine. Because of my propensity(?) to grow pannus and vegetation on these valves both my new surgeon and I chose ON-X for the upcoming MVR. Pannus is more than a non-issue. It can happen. For someone at risk, this is the only choice if you ask me. But then, how do you know you're at risk until it happens? You don't unfortunately.

I just learned today that my surgeon has put in 40+ ON-X valves so I'm very happy about that.

 

[Karlynn]

I have had a blood clot this year (related to an orthopedic accident and not my heart) and finally finished with Warfarin in July. My menustration has finally settled down to something of manageable duration and intensity. The reason I've mentioned this on this thread is because, any replacement valve, that rescues the recipient from the neccessity of daily anticoagulant therapy is something that, seriously, needs to be considered as an alternative, especially if you're a woman of childbearing age.

There are other benefits to being able to live without medications too numerous to list: so I will simply end with the thought that it pays to have an open and frank interview with your surgeon, in order to shop for the best product for you.

Regarding menstrual periods and warfarin - all women are different.
We've had discussion on this on VR and they probably can be located by doing a search. I have never felt my periods were any worse than prior to warfarin. I've looked into uterine ablation for reasons related to getting older and changes due to that. Some women have reported that warfarin has worsened their periods. I don't know if there's a predictor of that or not.

In all fairness, there are also numerous reasons to choose something that keeps you from having to live with the certainty of more OHS and the risk that involves. It's a topic we have gone tit for tat on many times here. But you are absolutely correct that a frank discussion with a surgeon is imperative.

 

[Ambience]

I get the feeling that On-X is being commercially promoted on the forums. At least I've had that suspicion for awhile.

 

[Ambience]

Greg,

Are you familiar with the Legal Term: LIBEL ?

Suggesting that I am "having an affair with the Burnett Lady" would seem to fall under that classification.

As for my use of CAPS, that is the ONLY way I have of emphasizing words. The Icon, BOLD, 'italics', and _underline_ functions do NOT function for me on my computer and AOL connection to VR.com.

As for the repeated referals to Catheran Burnett of On-X, I supply that information to newcomers who ASK about valves. I have a *considerable* amount of information that I received from On-X after contacting them. I have NO intention of sitting here and transcribing all of that information, hence the referal and suggestion that the writer get his own information package FREE of charge from On-X and draw his/her own conclusions.

I have also supplied the websites for the major suppliers in the U.S. market (which I learned from the material received from On-X).

Or should we just tell newcomers to "go look it up for yourself"?

'AL Capshaw'

You are very confrontational and it comes over to a regular reader as arrogance. Libel cases as it stands are directed towards press stating damaging information as fact. It does not allow for consideration as satire (as used in the context above), and generally only applies to major media sources whose false reports can damage a person much faster than a niche message board. Please leave the legal threats out of the discussion, it really detracts from the overall purpose of argumentation.

As for the argument of emphasizing text, the embedded bold, Italics, and underline code in this forum and the majority of other forums works whether you are on a capable browser that uses WYSIWYG controls or not. I would also imagine that AOL uses IE 7 by now which fully supports the user interface to click the B, I, or U letters above. If you don't know how to use them, just ask.

You may continue your regularly scheduled debate.

 

[PeggyM]

I don't have that feeling but I guess some do. It is a new product so therefore there is excitement about it. Just as when another new valve with new characteristics and benefits comes along through the years, valve patients will get excited about it. It's only natural. 5 years from now or whatever there may be a new valve being discussed. It can only benefit people.

While I'm sure my surgeon would have brought up this valve without myself coming already armed with information, it's been very rewarding for me to find new valve info, whether it's On-X or Oink Oink. And for that I am grateful.