6 Month Anniversary

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G

Gerry

Hi All

Yesterday was my 6 month anniversary of my surgery and today is exactly 26 weeks. Doesn't time fly?

Let me take this opportunity of saying "hi" to all my new valve friends that I have got to know through this Forum. To those who gave me advice and encouragement, I say "thank you". To those to whom I passed on advice and encouragement, I say "my pleasure". And to those new members who I haven't yet "met", I say "welcome".

This forum has enabled me to learn so much useful information and at the same time share it with others. It must have been so much more difficult for people who did not have access to a forum such as this to have coped with the ordeal of open heart surgery or any major surgery for that matter.

Well done Hank - you are a hero!
 
Congratulations Gerry, you did so well. And thanks for all the wise comments you have made on this forum.
 
Hi Gerry,

Remembering you from before surgery. You and I used to e-mail back & fort. I read your posts all the time, and wish you continuing good health.
Boy, doesn't time fly! Already 6 months. I just had my one year anniversary.

Many good wishes to you.

Christina
 
Congratulations Gerry!

Congratulations Gerry!

Well done Gerry .....people like you who come on the board give hope to the rest of us who still wait to hear if and when we have to face what you have already gone through . You encourage us and provide us with more valuable information than the medical profession has given us. You inspire us to ask the right questions and to feel more confident about what the answers we are given will mean to us .
So keep on dropping in and I very much hope that you continue to enjoy excellent health now you have been "sorted "
Thanks again .....and Thanks to Hank for his good work here
Scottie

PS ..At last I have a date to see the Congential Heart Consultant for my second opinion ..Sept 11th ...now I have a list of questions thanks to Valvereplacement.com :)
 
Hi Gerry!

Hi Gerry!

Congratulations on your six month anniversary. It seems like only
yesterday I was coaxing you to stay home in Perth and have a mechanical valve! I am impressed with the surgeons you saw in Brisbane and how well you have done with your homograft. You have almost made me a homograft convert. Too bad they don't work for mitrals like Gina and me. I was shocked the other day when one of our heart surgeons ( a young guy around 45 and the transplant specialist) told me if he needed an aortic valve he would take the Ross Procedure or a bio replacement. He said he would rather have a second opereation in 10 to 15 yeqrs than mess with Coumadin. I wonder if they are changing their MO and recommending bio's for young people and mechanicals for old guys like me that they never want to see again!
 
HAPPY 6 MONTHS.

For me the first six months seemed loooong.
Now after it has been just over a year, I look back as you are going how can it have been this long already.
Let's look forward to many many more together.

God Bless,
 
Congratulations Gerry on six months! I too will have six months on September 8. The time has flown by. I too have been very grateful for this site. It is the best forum ever. I wished I had found it before surgery, but never the less it has been very helpful. I too would like to thank all the heart buddies here and of course Hank. Such a great dream to be able to follow through on. It's been just great. :)
I do have a question. I still get serious itching every once in a while on my scar. Is that pretty normal? Sometimes it's worse when it's hot. I don't have pains or anything(well maybe twinges at certain sections of the scar)but only for about 30 seconds. Anyway, just curious. I hope to meet everyone in Nashville in October. It will be fun!
 
Lorraine

Lorraine

My scar itches, too, from time to time, but only at the top. I wonder whether its where clothes rub against it. The rest of my scar is fading rapidly, but not this bit - and its quite high up and shows!

AVR 13.Mar.01
 
After my first AVR, I recall having that weird itchy feeling even after a year.

I also had that high sharp ache twinge (i know that's not a word) feeling at the top of my sternum for even a good 18 months after that. In addition, I noticed the scar on my neck from where they stick that big giant needle in had the itchy hurty thing for a very long time.

I think that's pretty normal. Perhaps our bodies just try to remind us to continue to take it easy.

It would be interesting to know what the typical FULL recovery time is for the body after open heart surgery. I know most of us feel pretty good after 12 weeks or so, but these little things must be due to continued healing.

There are quite a few of us who seem to have this 12-24 month concern of, "It's been 20 months and I still have this little ache or itch or atypical bump, is this normal". Perhaps we think because we feel so good otherwise that these small things freak us out a bit?
Kev
 
I answered an itchy question over in about.com a few mos ago. Someone said they were itching and itching. My answer was "I am scratching as we speak" and it had been a yr already. Mine was in the leg scar that you valve replacements don't have, but we bypass folks do. I think they have cut through ALL layers of skin and the repairing takes a long long time to replace itself. If you ever had a deep wound , you may recall the layers of skin that had to grow back. And you can't get any deeper than our chest scar!! Also, the new skin would be scaly - oil/lotion will take care of that (vit e oil is good from day one after surgery and helps). But my itchy is gone, gone, gone. Take heart.
 
Hi Gerry ... As I recall, you and I joined this group around the same time last July. I was 3-months post-op with my homograph AVR and you were just beginning your search. It's amazing what a long way we've come since then.

I'm very glad to hear of your continued progress. (Hey, you haven't mentioned your tennis game, however. How's that going?)

Just wanted to add my well-wishes and look forward to sharing many more milestones with you and others here.

All the Best ~
 
Hi Bill

I do recall so well how I seem to be almost following in your footsteps.

Last Saturday, I played in the finals of our 4-man competition inter-club competition. Our team had made the finals and I was playing in the No. 1 position. The standard is below my "normal" level from pre-op days, but I had been playing in this competition now for about 3 months during my recovery. Well, on Saturday, not only did I win both my singles and doubles, but the team won the premiership as well.

I felt rather emotional to think that 6 months and 3 days after open heart surgery, I was able to return to the court and win a premiership.

(I didn't tell my opponent that he had just been beaten by a cardiac patient - thought that might be rubbing salt in where it didn't belong).

I hope to be able to return to my normal level of standard for our upcoming summer competition (on grass) starting in November and this will be a good test of both my new valve and my general fitness level.

For those tennis players amongst you all (especially if you are a "senior" over 50 like me), I am a 4.5 standard.

I will also start training soon for a planned (=hoped?) trip to the USA and play in some seniors events during 2003. Might even be a chance to catch up on some of my many friends on vr.com as well.

Thanks all for your postings of support. I really appreciated them.

Take care
 
Senior Tennis?

Senior Tennis?

Hi Gerry, I think your performance in your first competition is terrific. I don't play tennis( golf is my game) but my club Army-Navy in Arlington VA has the national super seniors competition each year. You will have to wait awhile to get in this one as the first flight includes 75-80 year olds and the second flight 80 and up. Keep up the good play! Marty
 
Gerry,

It was great to read your 6 month post. You and I, among all the others, were on the same path last fall and winter before our AVR surgeries (3/28/01 for me). I feel pretty great at the 5 month mark, and it is certainly encouraging to hear you are once again a tennis champion so soon after heart surgery. Heres' to modern science and this website, which I have unfortunately neglected as of late, because of a grueling work schedule. Not a bad problem to have. Keep up the championship tennis.
 

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