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Wow, that's awesome! I hope it goes well.

my heart doesn't race exactly, but I do have a hard time sleeping on my left side because my heart beats so strongly when I do. It was worse before my AVR. I asked my cardio about it once, and he didn't have any explanations. Good luck

Hi, All. Trying to do some research on some strange echo results from my last check-in. I didn't have a doc appt with this echo - just the test - so I haven't had a chance to ask questions, but I'm going to try to schedule follow up. I'm curious if anybody knows how to interpret these findings...

I dropped 13 pounds in about 2 weeks, and I was fit and lean to start with, so i had very little fat to lose. I took a picture at week 2 and I looked like a skeleton. It was disconcerting - for several months I was very self-conscious about how thin I got.

I'll add my two cents. I'm about 11 months out of my AVR. I was in the best running shape of my life right before surgery (no symptoms, luckily). I ran a 10k this last weekend as hard as I could. Left nothing on the course, and was about 3 - 4 minutes off the time I think I could have done last...

I don't mean to disagree with the advice you've been given, but I thought I'd share my experience. I seems I don't align well with some of the others' experiences. I'm also in my 30s and had my AVR in Aug of 2010. In the first half of 2010, I was running at least 50 miles a week, sometimes much...

Yes, Ogden. I love that race.

I was on metoprolol for several months after surgery due to some rhythm issues. I ran nearly ever day after getting the getting approval. I'm not sure how much it affected my running (i was slow, but don't know if was surgery or the BB or both). I do think it made my heart slower to respond...

Hi, All. Just wanted to share a recent milestone in my recovery process. I completed my first post-op marathon this last weekend, at just under nine months from my surgery date. My time was somewhere around 3:50, so I have a ways to go to back to pre-surgery levels, but I view this as a success...

I don't have a teen, but I played sports all through high school with aortic regurgitation due to a congenital valve defect and rheumatic fever. I never had any issues, but I don't mean to imply that that means anything for anyone else. I was active in sports from a very young age, and after my...

Just noticed the post. I did have PVCs, couplets, triplets, etc., following surgery for several weeks. They came on suddenly a few weeks post op, along with a couple episodes of afib. Seemed to happen every night for a couple hours, like clockwork... My heart rate would go all funny... Sometimes...

That's a good point. I have started been doing speedwork, and it's been a mixed bag. I think I'm getting better, but sometimes speedwork frustrates me because that's when I'm most aware of how much slower i still am than i was. I try to mix things up: I typically do strides 2-3 times per week at...

No medications pre-op. Post-op, my doc put me on metoprolol after I started having afib episodes. That lasted about two months. I'm not sure whether it slowed down my recovery or not. The only symptom I was sure of is that it made me very light-headed when I stood up after sitting for a while...

I posted this over on cardiacathletes.org, but then thought maybe a few people here might also like to see this info or share their own. My point was to address two questions I had prior to surgery: what can I expect in recovery, and am I going to be faster at the end of my recovery. I can’t...

The rhythm issue you mentioned was the sticking point for me. I was also very active prior to AVR and was anxious to get back to the same levels afterward. I decided to give formal rehab a try after surgery, starting at 1 week, as something to get me out of the house. For about two months or so...

Thanks for posting. I've wondered about this too. Since my AVR, I've had these symptoms come and go. Mostly, it's just mild for me, but every once in a while I'll stand up quickly and have to check myself when the lights start to go out. (Never happens for me if I'm going from standing to...

Thanks for the insights and suggestions. Just a quick-follow up. The advice to check in with my doc seemed sound. I checked in and have a go-ahead. As long as my HR recovers well after exercise and doesn't become erratic (more afib or PVCs) he thinks I'm OK. He noted that some people are just...

Thanks for the thoughts. I hadn't considered rhythm issues. I did struggle with rhythm issues after surgery (both afib and PVCs) for about 3 months, and then they just stopped like someone had flipped a switch. This feels very different to me, and far more subtle. Also, I should have mentioned...

I completely agree with the sentiment. What I meant in my previous post was simply that during the first, few months of recovery, bad days have put me off my weekly averages much more severely than they ever did before surgery. And before surgery, I could usually pinpoint a cause for a bad run...

Hi, All. Just wanted to check in and see if anyone else out there has experienced something similar to what I've been feeling lately. I don't think this is anything major--but a little, well, strange. Some background first: Before my AVR, I was lucky enough to be almost completely...