Another On-x

[nickm3]

Strange as it may seem a buddy of mine and I both had AVR surgery back in the summer of '98 and now both will have redo's at the same hospital by the same Doctor within about 2 weeks of each other. I was suposed to go first but because of rescheduling mine to Jan. 2nd my friend got to go first. He received a new On-x valve and ascending aortic graft on Friday, everything went great, he spent less than 24 hours in ICU and is already walking the hallway (w/assistance) of his nursing unit. We both had severe regurgitation and experienced similar symptoms, he says he feels better already. I have to say that I am a bit envious and even more anxious to get this over with.

BTW, the surgery was performed by Dr. Bavaria at HUP.

Nick

 

[MDS]

That is great to hear. Good Luck to you as well!
Dr Bavaria was my surgeon. He is amazing.
You are in great hands!

Mike

 

[Lynlw]

Justin had most of his surgeries at CHOP, it seems like a few of us live in the philly area, we should all meet for lunch or dinner some day.Lyn

 

[Isis]

Just curious. What type of valves did you both get back in 98? What valve are you selecting this time?

 

[nickm3]

I had endocarditis so the valve that was chosen for me was a homograft... because of it's low risk of reinfection. I really hate the thoughts of warfarin but a third operation is not at all on my wish list so I will be going for the On-x also. My buddy had the Ross procedure done so neither of those approaches really lasted as long as we had hoped.

Nick

 

[Ross]

Nick what are your thoughts on warfarin? I'm willing to bet you've heard a ton of nonsense. Please tell me whats on your mind about it.

 

[nickm3]

Ross,

Maybe it is wishful thinking but post-op I'm hoping to return to my normally busy and fairly active lifestyle. Would like to be able to ride my motorcycle again (wearing a helmet is not a problem for me), ride dirt bikes with my two young boys (just ride not race) and generally be able to horse around with them again. I like to work with my hands, and I regularly get cuts and scrapes on my hands and fingers. I love to eat vegetables but can't say that I can eat them consistently every day, when away from home and eating on the fly I may go 3-4 days without eating any real veggies. Then just the other day I'm visiting my friend in the hospital when he tells me that he was told he needs to buy an electric razor, guess I just never thought that the nic that you might receive during shaving would be much of a problem. Then there is always the occasional whack in the head... how do you know when you need to go to the ER? Maybe I'm expecting too much don't know but thinking positive is helping me get through this.

Nick

 

[rgmcguire]

ON-X Valve

ON-X Valve

Hi Nick. I had a mitral valve replacement using the ON-X valve eight weeks ago. My surgeon told me that he has been using this particular valve for about a year and a half with good results. I will agree with the good results and I have not felt this good in many years.

Bob