Recent content by dcmccarthy

I had an echo done today and my valve is perfect. No calcification, no regurgitation (nothing more than there had been since day 1). I had a contrast injected to better look at ejection fraction (first time for that with an echo). 2 cardiologists and the tech all agreed that my valve and heart...

I am mid 40s now. Had my valve done late 30s.

Thank you all for the replies! I knew going into a bioprosthetic it was not a 100% thing to never need anticoagulation, though the incidence of it is not high. I have been on plavix and aspirin the last 3 weeks and have not had another event since. My echo is in 2 days and seeing my cardiologist...

Good day, I have a bioprosthetic heart valve that was placed 7 years ago in April. A few weeks ago I developed a clot that traveled to my eye, and took out my vision for 5mins. I've had a CT angio done and everything looks good. Cardiologist also said my valve sounds like the day it went in...

So far my valve is perfect and I have no murmur. Saw my cardiologist at about 7 weeks post op and he said it sounds like a normal heart.

Arne I had surgery for the same conditions you have only 8 weeks ago. I had mine done at the Ottawa Heart Institute, is this where you will be going? I am 37 and never for a minute considered a mechanical valve. I am not the type for taking medications at any regular interval and I wanted to...

A pacemaker isn't uncommon when the aortic valve is involved though I had never discussed this possibility with either my cardiologist or surgeon. It was just a post surgery hurdle for me. I don't believe there's any real way for them to know if you'll need one or not prior to surgery, just luck...

The pacemaker was a surprise, and I'd not had any pacing issues prior. My surgeon and cardiologist both said it is common when the aortic valve is being operated on. The nerves run close and swelling can cause poor conductivity i believe. I was pretty drugged up but I seem to recall them saying...

I am now 6 weeks post-op and thought I would share my experience. I’m a long time lurker here! Like me, I'm sure people heading into a valve replacement are reading every last thing they can find on the matter. For me, I was most interested in things like pain levels, duration of stay in...