Update
Update
Thanks to all of you who took the time to read my post and kept me 'rational' until I saw my surgeon yesterday.
The good news for all is that what Al shared with me/us above in his reponse Quote: I've 'heard' that a small amount of 'leakage' is inherent in some valve designs to allow the leaflets to be 'washed' during the diastolic part of the cycle. Unquote is a FACT! THE NEWER VALVES ARE DESIGNED TO ALLOW SOME 'LEAKAGE' TO WASH AWAY ANY BLOOD PRECIPITATION, IN CASE OF ANY! Lisa also mentioned this 6 months ago in her post reply when the technician doing the echo told me I had a leak. The interpretor did not mention it then in the report, he explained, was he/she knew where the leak was from, while the technician and/or person who interpreted the last echo may not have been trained to know the difference...they saw a leakage, they reported it!. He showed me, using a similar valve, where the 'leakage' comes from.
He disregarded the measurement differences I was worried about since my heart's wall functioning and ventricular sizes have improved.
As for the fatigue and some SOBs I have been feeling, my heart is still reconditioning itself ... if not improved, to check with an internist!
Update
Thanks to all of you who took the time to read my post and kept me 'rational' until I saw my surgeon yesterday.
The good news for all is that what Al shared with me/us above in his reponse Quote: I've 'heard' that a small amount of 'leakage' is inherent in some valve designs to allow the leaflets to be 'washed' during the diastolic part of the cycle. Unquote is a FACT! THE NEWER VALVES ARE DESIGNED TO ALLOW SOME 'LEAKAGE' TO WASH AWAY ANY BLOOD PRECIPITATION, IN CASE OF ANY! Lisa also mentioned this 6 months ago in her post reply when the technician doing the echo told me I had a leak. The interpretor did not mention it then in the report, he explained, was he/she knew where the leak was from, while the technician and/or person who interpreted the last echo may not have been trained to know the difference...they saw a leakage, they reported it!. He showed me, using a similar valve, where the 'leakage' comes from.
He disregarded the measurement differences I was worried about since my heart's wall functioning and ventricular sizes have improved.
As for the fatigue and some SOBs I have been feeling, my heart is still reconditioning itself ... if not improved, to check with an internist!