TauntT - here's yet another voice (mine) that's just going to echo what everyone above is saying. The waiting is the hardest part (which is an old Tom Petty song I think).
There's a bunch of us on here that have just recently scouted the road ahead for ya, and it's nowhere near as bad over here on this side of the mountain as it is on the side you're on right now (the 'waiting room' side). And as you see above, there's a bunch of others that are there in the waiting room with you, including bean counter who is on your same date (pretty cool!). I'd recommend you & Bean stay in touch as you'll likely be pretty much on the same schedule (although there are always differences too) so you can compare notes (hey, are you having this pain - yea, my doc said it's normal, etc...). You don't have much more time to wait (which is good) and it will go fast. Stay busy with your regular life these last few days to keep your mind off things as much as you can. You'll be over here on this side very soon, and will likely be yet another voice echoing what we're telling you now to others, it's just nowhere near as bad as you were afraid it was going to be.
It's still a major surgery, but the surgeons and other docs/nurses and just the entire medical field is so advanced these days, it's just amazing! And we're very, very lucky to be going through this now, vs. 50 or 100 years ago, when would all have probably died as a result of having this condition. This surgery is going to give you many, many more years to come. There's also some promising things possibly coming down the pike (which you don't want to count on, but watch closely to see how they turn out) including (as I understand it) the possibility of replacing the valve via a catheter instead of open heart surgery. Again, no promises, but there's a chance that would be an option for you by the time you need your next one. Read, read, read and talk, talk talk to your medical professionals to see what options are for tissue (I understand some last longer than others, etc., but am not totally up to speed as I went the mechanical route).
If you haven't seen these in other posts yet, I'd recommend you go watch these short videos by a guy from England who video-taped his journey - they gave me more comfort before surgery that it's just not that bad... Keep posting questions as they come up before surgery, and give us updates afterwards. We all wait around like expectant parents waiting to hear from those that are at the top of the mountain (aka on the table) and about to come over to the other side! For example, Heartman (Mike) just had his surgery the other day and began posting updates a couple days ago. Go find his updates and read the replies and you'll get a better idea of this expectant parent phenominon
But don't rush anything - wait 'till you feel up to it before giving us updates, or have someone post an update for you. Best wishes!
Aririving home - 4 days after Surgery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaCvv...eature=related
1 week after surgery (3rd day being home) Note, he's really feeling great by this day, which I totally related to at about that same point
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5RdS...eature=related
2 Weeks after surgery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kde95-mbwj4