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Hello, and welcome to the site. It was a lifesaver for me when I had my surgery, although I mainly lurk and watch as of late. I can't really help with the valve choice, except to say that I have a Carbomedics with no issues at all. I think all are good choices, and as Ottagal said, any is...

Congratulations! Great to see these testimonials for those just coming into their own surgeries.

That's great news!

Hi Peggy! My INR was very difficult for the first 3-6 months after surgery, but since that time has leveled out pretty well! What a time to be having surgery; glad to hear that for the most part your experience has been good.

I had my aortic valve replaced along with a ascending aortic aneurysm fix (dacron) in March of 2011 at the age of 36. I have had no issues whatsoever with the valve or the sleeve since that time, and have survived a move to Australia and back 7 years later, now living in Michigan. I was quite...

Sorry to hear you need to go through a second surgery, but you have my best wishes and prayers for your success. I look forward to hearing of your speedy recovery!

Sean, I had a lot of the same thoughts going through my head prior to my surgery in 2011. I had a surprise surgery caused by an expanding aneurysm, not the valve. I had very little time to prepare for it and unfortunately found all of the wrong information on the web before I found this...

I don't know if it is a common restriction, but my hospital/rehab goes by it. They explained that below that you are forcing your respiratory system to do a lot of work to heat the air on its way in. I don't know if all docs follow this, but it is worth a discussion with your rehab/physio...

I did have the lightheaded feeling when standing, etc. just after surgery. My heart rate and blood pressure were too low at the time, and my metoprolol dose was shifted downward. I still had the lightheaded feeling, which eventually went away with no other changes to my meds. Based on that, I...

Thanks for sharing your experiences, Dick. I was concerned when I first got my valve and the warfarin that I would have an issue such as yours and not be able to stop the bleeding, but sounds like it was easily managed. That certainly would have scared me to see a gash of that size!

My experience was with an insurance company that wouldn't allow a meter until at least 90 days was up. The reason I got from them for this stance was that they didn't want to have to allow prescriptions for people who were on it temporarily, such as tissue valvers, pleurisy clotting, etc. To...

Mike, Welcome to the forum and glad to 'meet' you! I am about your age and had a similar history with my BAV leading to an aneurysm that forced my surgery. You should now have your deductible all paid off for this year as well, I am guessing! Was your aneurysm in the abdomen as you wrote, or...

Welcome and congratulations on the milestone! I hope you stick around and offer others your experiences and attained knowledge.

Yes, it has been found to run in families although a genetic marker isn't known. The below site references (In the symptoms section) that it runs in families, and that it can skip generations as you mentioned. We had all of our boys checked at a young age and all three are in the clear...

Sorry to hear about your ill effects. We are praying for your fast turn around!

I haven't had a problem getting a good blood drop since my surgery. My dad on the other hand, who was taking warfarin for atrial fib, couldn't get a good drop with the 'normal' poker no matter what he did. We tried the hot water, we tried flinging his hand, we tried holding it below his waist...

If this is a fast intake of breath that is sort of staggered, I experienced these both before and after my surgery. Before surgery it would happen infrequently, and always concerned me for a few minutes after which I would move on with whatever I was doing. After my surgery I had these quite...

31-32 every day here in Queensland; not too bad. We have been watching the tennis on 7 and wondering how all of those tennis players cope. It looks miserable hot! I imagine the water throughput is quite high right now in Melbourne. They were anticipating many homes without power down that...

Good advice here to date. I can add my experience, which is that I have been on warfarin for coming up on three years. I haven't had any issues with the regimen, and am enjoying an active life of beach walking/running, biking, and fishing/crabbing in sunny Queensland. I was very nervous about...

I would agree that your numbers shouldn't warrant much worry at this point. My stats were much worse for at least a decade before my aortic aneurysm forced the issue. From your post, am I correct in reading that you haven't brought your wife in on this? If so, I think the best advice I can...