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My cow valve is now eligible to drive. Took a stress test last week and all checked out well ("passed with flying colors," said the electrophysiologist). So that was encouraging. I'm 57 years old, and I don't know how long this moo-moo will last, but for now there are blue skies ahead. Nice news...

Hard to believe it's been 30 years since my first valve surgery. That one was for an aortic valve repair to address aortic insufficiency for a bicuspid valve. I was four days shy of my 27th birthday (right before I got wheeled in to the OR the crew sang Happy Birthday to me) and I remember when...

Today my bovine aortic valve turns 15, which puts me officially through the longevity window. The literature on this has these types of valves lasting 10-15 years. So I guess that means I’m now playing with casino money. Although I’ve noticed recently noticed they’ve changed that to “10-20...

Greetings, It was 14 years ago today that I had my once-repaired aortic valve replaced with a C/E bovine valve at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. It was not the smoothest road to recovery (collapsed lung, blood transfusion) but the staff there was great. And the last echo earlier...

Hello out there, I've been on this site for over a decade and it has been very helpful to me (and no doubt others). But this post is not about me. Back in November my wife caught COVID, and one of her symptoms, along with pleurisy and a persistent cough (imagine coughing for six months...

Greetings, today marks the 13th anniversary of my tissue valve. Many thanks to the good folks at Northwestern Memorial Hospital for having the valve last this long. And props to the cow for his or her durability. As of last check up, it's still holding up strong --"everything sounds good." Go...

It was on this date in 1993 that I had my bicuspid aortic valve repaired at the Cleveland Clinic. I remember being a scared twenty-something and, looking back, terribly naive -- my biggest concern was if there would be a noticeable scar! Ahh, to be that young and carefree again. (I would go on...

Fellow Valvers, Today marks 12 years since I had my second OHS for my bovine aortic valve replacement. Big thanks to the team at Northwestern Memorial Hospital who got me this far. As of last check up the valve was holding up just fine. I go in next month for my annual echo hoping there's no...

Hi all, For the last few months I’ve been feeling skipped heartbeats. When I was in my electrophysiologist’s office, naturally they weren’t happening then, so the EKG was negative. I then saw my cardiologist who said it’s not the bovine aortic valve—“the valve sounds fine.” (It’ll be 12 years...

Greetings, I occasionally get palpitations (like the ones I'm having as I type this) and I want to try meditating to help alleviate the irregular heartbeat. I was wondering if anyone out there has a good recommendation for a specific technique to help with this issue. I've dabbled in meditation...

Hello again. It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I read quite often. Something I read here recently is what’s inspiring me to write now. It’s about TAVR. You see, I had my first BAV repair in 1993 at the age of 27, which lasted until 2007 when I had it replaced with a CE bovine valve. At...

Hey all, just thought I'd share with my brothers and sisters in the AVR Club that today marks my 11th anniversary of my bovine aortic valve from Northwestern Memorial Hospital (and 25 years since my first AV repair at the Cleveland Clinic). Thanksgiving week has never been the same for me. I am...

Hi there. Recently a family doctor, that is, a doctor in my family told me about the virtues of vitamin K2, MK7. He said this vitamin has many benefits for people with artificial valves, in my case bovine, by blocking calcium build-up around the foreign valve. I have not run this past my cardio...

I just saw this yesterday. If this article was already posted somewhere else, please disregard. Unfortunately, I think now you have to log in with WSJ to see entire article. Maybe someone knows a workaround. Thanks. http://www.wsj.com/articles/clot-risk-is-seen-in-some-heart-valves-1444097915

Hey there, just wanted to run something past you all. I saw cardio last week and he said bp was too high (consistently with lower number over 100) and it had not gone down since last visit. So he prescribed me this diuretic to rid me of some excess body salt. Just wanted to see how others out...

Hello all, just wanted to announce that today marks my 7th year with my new bovine aortic valve. Here's a quick update following latest cardio checkups. Valve sounds good, and arrhythmia (maybe related to valve, maybe not) is in check thanks to meds. So I got a new 6-month lease on life, which...

Hello all, I’ve been reading through the forum about PVCs and a-fib, because I am currently having an issue. I first got these skipped beats—heart stops for a second, then starts again with a thud—almost four years ago. Went to my electrophysiologist who put me on Tambocor twice a day. Up until...

Hey there, just want to share that today marks my 5-year anniversary of my second OHS when my bicuspid aortic valve was replaced at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Thanksgiving has never been the same. You know how you make associations? Well, Thanksgiving week does that for me. The last echo...

Hello, This is a follow up to a post I submitted almost two years ago. As a quick review, I was having a lot of skipped heart beats, which was very unsettling. To combat these, my cardio put me on Tambocor, first 50 mg then 100 mg, twice a day. Here are the results. For the last year my...

Yep, it's been four years since Northwestern Memorial Hospital gave me my new lease on life with a bovine valve to replace my stenotic, already-repaired-once valve. The Monday of Thanksgiving week will forever remind me and my wife of it. So, given that Thanksgiving week is also my valve...