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What happened in my case wa sthat the sutures that hold the valve in place got infected. The surrounding tissue was infected too. The infection occured before the sutures came loose. The sutures coming loose was caused by the infection. Bacteria ate the tissue in and around the sutures. My guess...

Oops, I may have posted this twice... Just thought I would leave this here. I just wrote this blog post on the recommendations that my infectious disease doctor gave me after my battle with Infective Bacterial Endocarditis. These daily oral care instructions have been discussed here before, but...

Hi Tracy, love your blog. Have you seen mine? www.robovalve.wodpress.com My last AVR OHS was 1 year ago this month. In october, I rode a metic century bike ride (about 70 miles), and went pretty hard that day. I've rode centuries at a normal pace. My main sport is rock climbing, and I'm...

My doc said that aside from the general negative effects long term heavy alcohol use can have on the heart, Moderate use has no effect on our specific valve replacement conditions. He said he would like me to not get shitfaced because I'm on bloodthinners I could fall and cause dangerous...

I'm a rock climber and cyclist. The type of climbing that i mostly do (boudlering) requires very intense moves similar to weightlifting, though I am only lifting my own body weight. I do plenty of pullups to train for climbing. I also lift weights; heavy, but I do not max out. I mostly lift...

My ascending aneurysm was measure 4.5 before surgery, but turns out it was only 4.3, they fixed it anyway. CTY scans are most accurate in determining size, but they arent 100% accurate.

It has been a while since I've been active here on the forum. Hi everyone who remembers me and nice to meet you to anyone who does not! :) As some of you may know, I have been writing a blog to document my heart surgery which took place in November 2013. My 2nd emergency OHS was in march 2014...

I was in good shape before my surgery (surgeries rather), and I do think I am getting close to being in better shape now, but that is probably only because my training has become more focused, regimented, and smart. The surgeries have given me the drive to become the best I can be.

HA! This thread is great. I'm going strong boys, and I hope you all are too! Another thing that can cause erectile disfunction is some sort mental uneasiness. I went through a 3 week period of temporary ED due to a serious blow to my self esteem/confidence, partially due to this heart thing...

I'm a rock climber and the docs tell me to stop that activity. I continue but I wear a helmet. They are always very concerned about bleeding, especially in the head or abdomen. a concussion could be bad. a cracked head could be fatal. I continue my activity understanding the risks while taking...

I'm a rock climber and the docs tell me to stop that activity. I continue but I wear a helmet. They are always very concerned about bleeding, especially in the head or abdomen. a concussion could be bad. a cracked head could be fatal. I continue my activity understanding the risks while taking...

I havent been here much the past 2 months. If you don't know me, I had AVR in Nov 2013, recovered well, but then came down with Bacterial Endocarditis and a dehisced valve 3 months later; then emergency OHS AVR redo on March 15th, 2014. Tomorrow will be 5 months post OHS #2. I've been cycling to...

Hey guys. I havent been as active on here after my 2nd emergency OHS due to Bacterial Endocarditis, mostly because of the apathy. My previous cardiologist wanted me to stay away from all physical activity for 1 year. I got a new job and new health insurance. My new (much more experienced) cardio...

As some of you may recall, I had my 2nd OHS in March, just 3 months after my 1st one due to bacterial endocarditis of my mechanical aortic valve. Check out my blog post on how I'm doing, my new cardiologist, exercise, and all that good stuff...

Hey guys, I just thought this was kinda fun. Those of us with replaced aortas, valves, etc, know that the heart may thump pretty hard in our chests. After my most recent (2nd) surgery, with the replaced aorta, it feels like it thumps against my sternum. Anyway, I recorded the thumping by placing...

This is an issue that I thought was worthwhile spending some time thinking & writing about. It is more relevant to me now, after my 2nd OHS, than it was after my 1st. Stay positive, stay motivated. My blog post on the topic of dealing with cardiac depression...

As some of you may know, 6 weeks ago I had an AVR re-do due to bacterial endocarditis. My recovery has been normal from my 2nd surgery, however I am experiencing a strange phenomenon. After my 1st surgery (in November 2013), my heart rate went up afterwards, into the 90's at first, then...

Thank you for the input and kind words everyone. I am really thankful for the community here. to answer some of the questions: They were not able to identify where the bacterial infection came from because all cultures did not grow (came back negative). This is possibly because they blasted me...

Hey all, I just thought I would update on my progress. 5 weeks ago, my mechanical valve (installed only 3 months prior) was found to be coming off, causing shortness of breath. The day after we finally figured out what was going on (Bacterial Endocarditis), I had an emergency surgery to replace...

He said the St. Jude is a little easier to install. He said since the surgery was going to be tricky, the St. Jude would make it easier than the On-X.