Recent content by JiminMI

That's what I like to hear; thanks for the reassurance. With my surgery only days away, and having canceled two previous ones, I'm starting to get that uneasy 'fight or flight' feeling.

Thanks Dick. I get a bit confused reading the many posts from people on ACT. While many say just eat a normal diet and be consistent, there's always an occasional story of someone's INR fluctuating out of range, for reasons not always clear. Since I have no experience to date with ACT, I have...

I have tricuspid AV Norm; though I was told from the initial echocardiogram that I had a BAV, they later confirmed it was a normal tricuspid valve with a TEE . . .problem was the doc said there was still "some leakage", though he said it "wasn't that bad". I've obtained several copies of my...

After a full year of being "in the waiting room" for OHS, I'm finally going in for surgery next week for repair of an aortic root aneurysm and a possible AVR. My surgeon says that his first priority is to spare the valve if he can with a David procedure. If he determines that the valve needs to...

Sidster: I've read before that you were interested in getting the ON-X valve for AVR. If so, check out the ON-X site below. If you do get surgery with an ON-X valve and are willing to participate in the Proact study, it's possible that you may qualify for a free home INR monitor with testing...

Looking for some info on follow-up testing that I might expect after a mechanical AV replacement procedure and the time-frames for testing (echo, cat-scan, x-rays?). This has to do with my concerns about my proximity to the operating surgeon and hospital. It's possible that I could be getting my...

I've seen this before . . .looks like the Medtronic didn't do too badly in this study for the aortic position . . .interesting!

They recommended the Bentall for me also with a mechanical valve. I met the chief surgeon for the first time in the hospital after my heart-cath; he basically told me he would go with the mechanical valve. They had scheduled me for surgery two days later without asking me. I had only gone...

Eva: I don't know why he was going to use the Medtronics . . .was one of the reasons I cancelled surgery along with my still huge reservations about having the operation done at that time. I had an office conference with the surgeon later and asked him about other valves. He said he didn't use...

This is the mechanical valve my surgeon was going to put in me last February, before I cancelled the surgery. From my online reading, it looks like the St. Jude's and On-X valves are currently the ones being used most often. This Medtronic valve is of the "tilting disc" design. I'm wondering...

Thanks Dick! So you've been on Warfarin for around 43 years?! I'm sure I'm not the first one to say that you are one super-positive example for the success and durability of mechanical valves!

Thanks Pro, I appreciate the information. Been a torturous decision making process for me on whether to get the surgery done or wait . . .sounds like you can relate (probably most here can)! Guess I'm stubborn and want to believe that the old body can carry on with the original equipment for...

Are allergic reactions to warfarin common? I haven't read too much about any serious adverse reactions on this forum, however I was reading on another forum about many complaints of rashes from this anticoagulant. Strangely, many people talked about switching from Warfarin to Coumadin (?)---I...

Looks like I had a misunderstanding about the nature of different valve procedures. Note that I did qualify my remark about "negligent omission" . . .if the sleeve isn't required for all valve replacements then it wouldn't apply. Forgive my confusion on the subject----but then, that's why I asked.

Just wondering why On-X wouldn't make the sleeve with the valve (??) If it's a necessary part of a valve replacement procedure, seems to me that this is kind of a negligent omission on the part of a valve manufacturer!