Recent content by tgmorris

Thank you so much for that link. I've passed along the information so she at least has a solid starting point.

My sister, who is 75, has just been diagnosed with acute aortic stenosis. This was found due to low oxygen levels and a recent fall which sent her to the ER to get checked. She had a cardiac cath and they basically didn't provide her any information and the cardiologist she saw, other than...

I asked about dropping off my meds while I was in cardio rehab and the Dr. agreed so we tapered things off over a week. Other than one minor bought of high BP I was off all meds other than an 81mg aspirin and a multivitamin daily at about the 3 month mark. I don't go back for an office visit...

It was one year ago today that right about now I was puking my guts out from the effects of the anesthesia until they got me on some nausea meds. Needless to say that was a memorable first recollection after the surgery. I had my BAV replaced w/o any complications and been doing pretty well for...

Kevin, welcome. My first memory after my surgery was being propped up on the side of the bed and doing dry heaves from the nausea caused by he anesthesia. Once they got that under control things settled down quite nicely. It seems ages ago yet it's been just under 5 months. I completed 24...

After surgery I was in the mid 80-90 range while on Toprol XL (25mg/day) and came off it after a month. Due to BP issues I went back on it and added Norvasc (5mg/day) about 3 weeks later. I was in cardio rehab during this time and the Toprol had little impact on my top rate, probably due to the...

I asked my cardio about this as that's the way I read it as well when I was researching things after my valve replacement. He, in no uncertain terms, said that it's for persons with artificial valves and not just mechanical ones. You are also correct that many dentists or hygienists would still...

My story, like many here, is somewhat similar in that I was shocked to find out that I was a likely candidate for suddenly dropping dead due to my acute aortic stenosis that had just been found a few months prior (I'd known I had a heart murmur since I was a teen). I was fairly asymptomatic but...

I had trouble sleeping mainly because I don't like sleeping on my back. I was able to find a comfortable position from time to time but as soon as I moved a bit I'd get a sharp jab of pain from the motion of the sternum. That coupled with being on lasix the first week home meant I was either up...

Your case sounds similar to mine in that I was diagnosed with Acute Aortic Stenosis with a BAV earlier this year. The Surgeon preferred to err on the side of caution and recommended going with the surgery (no real surprise there) rather than waiting and I had no issues with that based on all my...

Sounds like things are progressing, even with the AFib. I had to stay an extra day while they worked to resolve my AFib but didn't have the excessive rate to deal with as mine happened around 120 BPM. Three months later I'm finishing up rehab on virtually no meds (I'll only be on a multivitamin...

I had my aortic valve replaced with a porcine tissue valve about 3 months ago and my mini-sternotomy incision starts about 3 fingers down on the sternum and is just over 3 inches in length. Quite a few of the staff were surprised at how short it was and commented that it was the smallest...

Sounds great. One word of caution however is that while you may feel really good it will be quite easy to over do it. I found this out firsthand and wound with a short trip to the ER the same evening as my release. Fortunately I didn't have to stay but the experience isn't something I'd want to...

Hey, Tom. I'm Tom as well and also just finished my 3 month post-op visit with my cardio. I too had a clean bill of health, other than my heavily calcified BAV, based on my pre-op cath and am doing well enough at this point that my cardio said to come back in a year. I'm about to complete 24...

I saw my cardio today, 3 months and 1 day since my AVR. I asked about coming off meds and he said since my pre-op cath was so clean, and the only problem I had was the severely calcified BAV, he didn't see any problems. I reduce my Toprol XL from 25mg to 1/2 that for a week and then stop...