Search results

Thank you!

Well, it could be stress, although when you have that particular set of symptoms it's always good to get things checked out, just in case. For what it's worth, when I saw my cardiologist on Thursday my EKG, blood pressure and pulse all looked very healthy, but because such symptoms (especially...

Hey guys, so something's come up and I'm a little (read: growing steadily MORE) concerned. For the past couple of days I've had this mild-moderate pressure in my chest and pain in my upper back and it seems awfully familiar when I remember how I felt when I first got diagnosed as having an...

Hello James, I definitely think getting a second opinion is worthwhile. I'm no doctor nor medical expert, but from what I've always understood the presence of symptoms with such a condition -- particularly as troublesome and as many as the ones you listed -- indicate that surgery is advisable...

Congratulations on hitting the one year mark! And thank you for sharing such a lovely, uplifting post. (What a great quote, eh?) :)

I had to do this before my AVR surgery because I couldn't complete the 64-slice CT scan. I believe generally what they're looking for is to get the most detailed look at your heart possible, in order to make sure there aren't any signs of issues or disease that might not have shown up on...

Oh yeah, this I understand. I would never go any amount of days without Coumadin if I could help it (barring some fantastic future development in which research discovers that On-X valves don't need any anticoagulation therapy after all -- at which point I would party like it was 1999). I'm on...

I thought it took some time -- like, more than a week or two -- before a low or high INR (barring extremes) was likely to affect your health?

pellicle Ah, I see, that would be a bad time. I mean, better safe than sorry as far as checking to make sure you were dive-worthy, but still, sounds like he could have handled things a little better. Glad to know diving isn't completely off the table though! I've never been before but I might...

pellicle Why is that a sore point for you?

My surgery was almost a year ago now, but I do seem to remember a period where my back, shoulders and neck were KILLING me. Usually I would recommend yoga but since your sternum is still healing, that probably wouldn't be the best of ideas. (Once it's healed though, yoga/stretching is awesome...

harrietW The waiting room period is seriously one of the worst parts of the whole AVR experience. I remember how horrible and unreal it felt to just keep waiting and taking tests and wishing it was all just over with already (even though I was terrified of surgery), only to watch my deadline get...

Congratulations joey66! That is awesome news -- and your positivity regarding the whole thing is positively inspiring. ;) I'm almost at one full year now (anniversary is next month!) and I still have my days where I want to just punch life in the face, but at the end of the day I know I'm lucky...

This is great news. The beginning is usually the hardest and it's good that you're both feeling (relatively) well! Feels nice to be on the other side of surgery, eh? :)

pellicle Thanks again for the good advice. I'll think about it. :) I think my insurance will even pay for the kit (hopefully).

LondonAndy pellicle Yeah, the Spanish bondage hotel analogy feels pretty accurate right about now. I imagine I could forgo the clinic entirely but then I also imagine my insurance wouldn't pay for certain things anymore, plus I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this whole thing TOTALLY on my own...

My doctor did mention the Skyla at first but after checking me out she didn't seem to think any of the IUDs would be great for me. It occurs to me she also might not like that option for me because around the time she first brought it up I almost fainted in her office. Still not sure if that...

Thanks. :) Yeah, I learned (albeit slowly) to calm down a bit and not worry so much about it going up and down -- the biggest frustration about it doing that for me is just that it means more frequent trips to the clinic for testing. Unfortunately they aren't so liberal regarding their...

Thank you everyone for your answers and feedback! I will definitely look into the NuvaRing and I will try and keep my mind open concerning the Mirena since it's been recommended by multiple people now. Roberta and McCbon, may I ask exactly what you mean when you say it was "uncomfortable" to...

I got a bracelet; I was pretty convinced at first that it would bug me but now I actually forget it's there most of the time and sleep and shower with it without a problem. The only time it gets irritating is when I'm cooking -- kneading dough is a pain and a half if I forget to take it off --...