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marcojfaccone

VR.org Supporter
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2022
Messages
9
Location
Winnipeg
Hello all, Im Marco I was actually pretty happy to find this group. It’s been great to read other posts good or bad. Thank you everyone for sharing.

So Im a 36yr old, and all this started with hurting my foot at work in march, I went to the hospital my blood pressure was 227/176 so a bunch of tests and 12 hours later I was released from hospital to see the family dr.

Met with him, and the testing started, within 24hrs I was taking 3 medications for blood pressure. For the next 30 days I had a different test every 3 days. By the begging of April
I was told I had heart disease, then end of April was told I had a double bicospid, severe aortic regurgitation, enlarged heart, enlarged aortic, and I was in heart failure. I was told to make sure I had all my final document together just to be safe. So I met with the surgeon on my birthday (may 18) signed all the necessary documents to get me on a list to have a mechanical replacement.

On June 17 they called to say I was having surgery on the 21st, surgery went fantastic (I think anyways it was my fathers death anniversary) this was my first surgery. So I was freaking out, but visually staying calm. Made it through, I had the most incredible nurses and doctors. Super supportive and keeping me informed the entire time. 5 days after surgery I was released and I’ve been going ever since.

I never felt symptoms, or never thought I did, but since surgery almost 3 months, I’ve felt better then ever, I can tell I had symptoms I just assumed were part of my lifestyle and eating habits.

Well thanks for reading the rant looking forward to reading about you!
 
Hey and welcome

it takes time to work it all out. Then more time to adjust back all the things in your head that got out of whack.

as Dick says: Eat the Elephant one bite at a time

PS: this blog post of mine is detailed and thick, but it was written as a resource. For now just glance over it and take away the main point:

Firstly - the good news​

I wanted to say that managing my INR myself is incredibly simple and takes me about 5 minutes per week. Learning to use an INR monitoring machine is dead simple (a quick video provided) and (almost) any idiot can do it. If you buy strips online they cost so little that if you are an able bodied person you just couldn't consider doing it any other way.

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html
 
Welcome, Marco! you've stumbled onto a Forum of people pretty much like you. The really hard part is behind you.......now you only need to do a little tweaking here and there to smooth out the rough edges. Read the stories of those, about your age, that have gone on to productive and happy lives. Ask whatever question you need an answer for.......someone has probably dealt with a similar situation.
 
Hello and welcome, Marco. Thanks for the great write-up.
Fantastic to hear it all went well and that you're feeling better than ever. Wishing you all the best for the days (and years!) ahead. Onwards. 😎
 
Welcome to the forum Marco!

I'm glad that you found us. This forum was a great help to me heading into surgery, in recovery and living with a prosthetic valve. A great place to share experiences and learn from others. I encourage you to participate and ask any questions that you may have. We are all just normal people, living normal lives, except we have a little extra part installed along the way. A big deal, but not so much a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It does seem to create an immediate bond of sorts.

I'm on vacation currently and while waiting for the rental car started chatting with another customer whose from Texas. Turns out that he's a fellow valve patient. It was an instant bond. I know that you did not choose to join this club. None of us chose this. But, hey, you're a member now and we welcome you.
 
Hey and welcome

it takes time to work it all out. Then more time to adjust back all the things in your head that got out of whack.

as Dick says: Eat the Elephant one bite at a time

PS: this blog post of mine is detailed and thick, but it was written as a resource. For now just glance over it and take away the main point:

Firstly - the good news​

I wanted to say that managing my INR myself is incredibly simple and takes me about 5 minutes per week. Learning to use an INR monitoring machine is dead simple (a quick video provided) and (almost) any idiot can do it. If you buy strips online they cost so little that if you are an able bodied person you just couldn't consider doing it any other way.

https://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html
This was awesome, thank you so much for sending it, I’m still with the nurse station atm but I’m glad it’s actually an easier adjustment the. I thought.
 
Welcome to the forum Marco!

I'm glad that you found us. This forum was a great help to me heading into surgery, in recovery and living with a prosthetic valve. A great place to share experiences and learn from others. I encourage you to participate and ask any questions that you may have. We are all just normal people, living normal lives, except we have a little extra part installed along the way. A big deal, but not so much a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It does seem to create an immediate bond of sorts.

I'm on vacation currently and while waiting for the rental car started chatting with another customer whose from Texas. Turns out that he's a fellow valve patient. It was an instant bond. I know that you did not choose to join this club. None of us chose this. But, hey, you're a member now and we welcome you.
This definitely gave me a chuckle at the end, thanks for the welcome 🤗
 
Welcome, Marco! you've stumbled onto a Forum of people pretty much like you. The really hard part is behind you.......now you only need to do a little tweaking here and there to smooth out the rough edges. Read the stories of those, about your age, that have gone on to productive and happy lives. Ask whatever question you need an answer for.......someone has probably dealt with a similar situation.
Thank you for the welcome 🤗
 
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