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Are any of you with tissue valves on Lipitor (or similar drugs)? My cardiologist recently put me on a low dose (10 mg) of Lipitor because of the anti-calcification effects it has on the blood (not specifically to lower my cholesterol which is usually OK). He said it is a relatively new therapy...

Well, it is now 4 1/2 weeks since my AVR surgery and I am still having bouts with those pesky breathing problems. What happens is that my breathing becomes shallow and rapid without me doing anything - it just hits me seemingly at random. When it really hits it becomes very difficult for me to...

I'm sure this topic comes up a lot, but I've lost about 17 pounds (about 9% of total body weight) since surgery, 15 of which has been since discharge 10 days ago. Since I've discontinued the diuretic 2 days ago the weight loss has leveled off. I've been eating very well, even being forced to...

Good news, my recovery is finally progressing. :) The thrush and ensuing canker sores are gone so I am eating better.. I am also sleeping better (albeit it with a slightly improved dry mouth problem) and the pain is now very tolerable w/ meds. However, I am still often getting the sweats...

Although my family gave you some brief updates on my recovery, I am finally home and only now able and ready to tell you what my often hellish recovery has been like ? the real story. Thanks to everyone who sent their well wishes. Quick review: Date of AVR surgery: 6/18 Procedures used...

Surgery went very well today. It started @ 12:45 (he was the second patient of the day for the surgeon). The replacement valve (pig) and graft for the aorta went as planned. He was on the heart/lung machine for 1 hour, 43 minutes. Surgery in all took about 4 hours. 1 hour after he was...

I had my cardiac cath. test yesterday which went very well - very little pain like everyone said. However, because I was a "rare case" where they could not plug or stitch the incision because it was not at the aortic head (or something like that), they had to use old-fashioned direct pressure...

I just got my official surgery date yesterday - it is this Friday (6/18). :eek: :eek: They originally had it scheduled for 6/29 but I told them I didn't want to wait that long; the sooner the better. The MRI results I got last week were not good at all - the AVA is 0.5 cm2 and I have a...

I was wondering how many of you had the minimally invasive (MI) AVR procedure? My surgeon said that he does it on about 15% of his patients and that it reduces pain, recovery time and blood loss (as can be expected). Also, instead of a 10-12 inch scar on the full sternotomy you only end up...

:confused: Here is something I found to be a little disconcerting... This past January I had a stress echo done with the following results: Jan 2004 Mean pressure gradient: 50.5 mmHg (pre-test), 67.2 (post-test) Peak Velocity: 4.2 m/s (pre-test), 4.8 m/s (post-test) Valve area: 1.0 cm2...

Dear all users of Coumadin: Have a few minutes to take a survey? I am facing the prospect of AVR surgery in the coming year and probably like all of you were/are, I am concerned about having to take Coumadin. I've read most of the posts and learned a lot, but what I'd like to do is to try to...

I would like to thank everyone for their kind replies.... The funny thing is, now that I was given the news I have developed some of the classic symptoms in the past week - lightheadedness and some shortness of breath, even at rest. Undoubtedly this is a psychosomatic reaction due to the added...

I was just told last week that it may be time for the aortic valve replacement surgery. I am 43, work out a lot (but know my limits because of the AS) and am in very good shape. I was 1st told of my AS when I was 21. I just had a battery of tests done and went the full 15 minutes on the...