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GrtDane- I am no expert on all of your data, but my story is a lot like yours. I too had radiation for Hodgkins in the early 80s and later developed AS. My doc first noticed the murmur years ago (maybe 10 years) and at first echo results were normal and I was totally asymptomatic for a number of...

CE bovine aortic valve here. It's just a youngster at three and a half months old. First baseline/check up echo in a couple of weeks.

Great news. I hope recovery is smooth. PLease keep us posted and let us know if we can help.

Vadim- What advice are you getting about pushing it aerobically and your heart rate? I am 9 weeks out and doing a combination of 3-4 mile walks or some bicycle on the trainer. Both include intervals with a max HR of about 135-140. In my last follow ups, my cardio didn't impose a limit but asked...

pem- Thanks for posting your experience. I am in almost the same boat you were - left the hospital on the "recovery" 50mg daily dosage. Recovery was going well and then I had a bout of PVCs and some A-Fib. In hindsight I think these were mostly caused by me doing a little too much too early and...

Hang in there Larry. A few of my stats were pretty close to yours, especially the pressure gradient. When I was about a month out from the surgery, I Was pretty symptomatic, SOB, etc and my anxiety level was high, much like yours. I worried I might not make to the surgery, like worried about it...

OK, had a follow up visit with the cardiologist yesterday to discuss the Holter. Turns out that while I did have a number of PVCs, the palpitations that were bothering me were actually brief episodes of A-Fib. During the 24 hour recording, I had 5 A-Fib episodes with the longest lasting about 45...

Well I turned it in yesterday and haven't heard any news (which i figure is probably good as they said they would look at and call if something was up) and have a follow up appointment on Monday. I think my own diagnosis and the initial comments I got here are probably right - irregular heart...

All good news. Congrats.

Well, I am now wearing a Holter monitor. I had a bunch of palpitations over the weekend and they caused me a lot of anxiety. Frustrating because I have always felt pretty mentally tough. Anyway, I went in to get an EKG just to check. Fortunately (I suppose), I had a few palpitations during the...

tabitha- My situation was a little like yours in that my cardiologist was in favor of a mechanical valve (I had just turned 50 when i needed the replacement). I met with two surgeons, one who advocated either mechanical or a Ross procedure, although there was some concern about that as I had...

Just a quick update. No issues this morning. . walked, etc. All good. Then just after eating lunch, I got a bunch of these things. Seemed like one almost every third heart beat. They subsided after about an hour. Mostly gone after that but some anxiety and an occasional PVC remaining. I called...

Good questions, Ovie. I think your post identifies the dichotomy of the thing. That OHS is a really big deal, scary, dangerous and life changing. At the same time, as we all prepared for our surgeries, we were comforted by the fact that there are so many done successfully every single day. I...

Thanks Ovie. I have been fortunate to have a smooth recovery. Also, I think I am pushing it pretty hard. In the years before becoming symptomatic, I raced bicycles and trained like a nut. In the weeks before I could not have walked 15 minutes at 2 mph and a flight of stairs was a challenge. I...

bee- PVCs are premature ventricular contractions. As I understand it the ventricle initiates a heart beat instead of the normal way through the atrium (sinoatrial node). It feels like a skipped heart beat, even when you are just feeling your pulse, or a flip-flop feeling in your chest/upper...

Thanks. They are probably normal and hopefully they will subside over time. But they do seem to be triggered by something, which leads to anxiety (for me), which leads to more PVCs, and repeat. Julian's description is particularly accurate.

I am today 6 weeks out from my AVR. So far, I have had a pretty smooth recovery and am feeling better than I did before the surgery and dare I say approaching normal. I had follow ups with my cardiologist and surgeon about 2 weeks ago and everything looked good. My EKG showed a couple of PVCs...

Good call on the "weird" feeling when you step off the treadmill. I had the same thing when ending a treadmill walk but never when walking outside. It did cause a little anxiety at first but I know now just expect it. I have so far passed on the formalized cardiac rehab. I saw my surgeon the day...

You need to pick up the pace a little, buddy. Just kidding of course, great job.

J-Dub Congrats. It is a good feeling to be on the other side and start to feel yourself recovering. Sounds like you are doing all the right thinks - walk, spirometer, rest and eat. Everyone is different, but about week 4 after surgery I really began to feel like my old self, only better. Good...