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Time flies. It has been 4 years since my life and my family's lives were turned upside down by the completely unexpected, barely diagnosed in time, prolapse of my mitral valve. The whole experience is more and more just a memory and a story, with the passage of time dulling the intensity of...

Two years ago today the weather was cold, gray and miserable, and my docs were still several hours away from figuring out why I seemed determined to die on them in the ICU. I was on a vent and goin' down. Fortunately they managed to figure out that my mitral valve had decided to quit...

Well, got my first ski trip since OHS in the books last week. I will confess to a few nerves; hadn't skied in 5 years, not sure how my endurance (or legs) would be, and a bit nervous about anticoagulation in case I managed to hurt myself. I am pleased to report I did 3 days of skiing with no...

Tonight marks the first anniversary of my mitral valve replacement. It could just as easily be the first anniversary of my death, but I was correctly diagnosed JUST in time for emergency surgery, and here I am. I am profoundly appreciative of all the help and reassurance I have found on this...

Had an interesting turn of events this week; I've been on vacation, spending time at our lake cabin. Overall activity level has been fairly high; walking the hills, kayaking, sailing, golfing, but no higher intensity exercise (pulse rate has never been over about 90, where usually I am on the...

I received word yesterday from Transport Canada Civil Aviation Medicine that my medical has been reinstated and I am once again cleared to fly, 7 1/2 months after my surprise mitral valve replacement. I was not sure I would ever fly again as Pilot in Command, so this is a very big deal to me...

Cross-checked my INRatio2 results against venous draw and lab results this week. This is the second time I have compared results; First time was right when I started using the INRatio2 in January. That time, the INRatio results were .1 above the lab numbers, and this time they were .1 below...

Had a very encouraging visit with my cardiologist yesterday with regard to getting my flying medical back; echo shows 53% EF (Transport Canada requires 50%), loop monitor showed only mild occasional paroxysmal a fib (reduced since with a slight increase in metoprolol), and my CHADS2 and Bleed...

I ran out of the Unistik 2 extra lancets that came with my Alere meter, and my pharmacist gave me a sample setup of the Microlet 2 lancing device with a few lancets to try. I can't find anything that tells me what gauge the lancets are, except that they refer to device using "narrow gauge"...

Tonight marks 4 months since my completely unexpected emergency mitral valve replacement. Two weeks ago I celebrated my 54th birthday, a milestone I came within a razor's edge of not seeing. In light of that, I now think of Oct. 20 as my "Re-birthday" and intend to celebrate it annually from...

Hi, everybody; I am new to this site, after having emergency mitral valve replacement (St Jude's mechanical) 4 weeks ago. I'm 53, healthy and active (or I thought I was healthy) with no previous cardiac issues: low-normal blood pressure, always passed my ECG's for flying with no issues, so...