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kevans1475

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2024
Messages
13
Location
Boylston, MA
I posted on January 14 in the New Members section. I learned so much leading up to my surgery from this community and I had my surgery this past Monday, March 4. Here some of my experiences so far for those who are curious...
55 yo male. Born with BAV (stenosis type). Was watching it with echo''s since 2107. It reached severe stage in November, and met with Surgeon 1 of 2 on January 10. I got a second opinion (which is totally fine and no surgeon should mind) and decided on him and the hospital seemed like a better fit for me (Brigham & Woman's in Boston, MA). My aneurysm was just over the cusp of needed replacement (5.2) so had that grafted while they were in there. The also found a hole in my heart not seen on the scans, so they took care of that too.
I got an On-x valve after much reading. My bottom line was I just didn't want to go through this a second time if I didn't have to. Yes it ticks, and sometimes if sounds like a bang! But it's super early and that will change a bit, including having it fade into my day to day life.
Yes, you do feel like a truck hit you. Even with attentive cardiac nurses and well-discovered drug timing and doses, there will be uncomfortable moments. Sleeping for me has been a marathon. Sleeping what felt like large blocks of time (say, four hours each) was really about one hour each. The first night was the worst of it.
I'm still a big mentally groggy, but following the instructions by the recovery team seems to do the trick. I was healthy before (no comorbitities and didn't smoke and hardly drank), so that always makes things go smoother.
Hopeful to head home Saturday or Sunday...as soon as my INR levels stabilize where they want them.
I''m happy answer any questions in the meantime.
Ken.
 
Congratulations, glad everything went well. With time my valve sound pretty much disappeared. I stayed awake for 24 hours after surgery. Usually I sleep good after surgery, but with OHS it was not the case. Good sleep came back in a couple of days.
 
Great to hear, Ken! Good to know all progressing nicely. Things should slowly improve as the days pass. Give yourself time and take it nice and easy in the early weeks. Time is the healer.
And good news they found and fixed the hole while in there. Sounds like a great team.
Sending lots of recovery good thoughts your way.
 
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Great to hear, Ken! Good to know all progressing nicely. Things should slowly improve as the days pass. Give yourself time and take it nice and easy in the early weeks. Time is the healer.
And good news they found and fixed the hole while in there. Sounds like a great team.
Sending lots of recovery good thoughts your way.
Thank you Seaton. Afib hasn't been a thing for me me, and that's the one that freaks me out a bit. But so far so good
 
I posted on January 14 in the New Members section. I learned so much leading up to my surgery from this community and I had my surgery this past Monday, March 4. Here some of my experiences so far for those who are curious...
55 yo male. Born with BAV (stenosis type). Was watching it with echo''s since 2107. It reached severe stage in November, and met with Surgeon 1 of 2 on January 10. I got a second opinion (which is totally fine and no surgeon should mind) and decided on him and the hospital seemed like a better fit for me (Brigham & Woman's in Boston, MA). My aneurysm was just over the cusp of needed replacement (5.2) so had that grafted while they were in there. The also found a hole in my heart not seen on the scans, so they took care of that too.
I got an On-x valve after much reading. My bottom line was I just didn't want to go through this a second time if I didn't have to. Yes it ticks, and sometimes if sounds like a bang! But it's super early and that will change a bit, including having it fade into my day to day life.
Yes, you do feel like a truck hit you. Even with attentive cardiac nurses and well-discovered drug timing and doses, there will be uncomfortable moments. Sleeping for me has been a marathon. Sleeping what felt like large blocks of time (say, four hours each) was really about one hour each. The first night was the worst of it.
I'm still a big mentally groggy, but following the instructions by the recovery team seems to do the trick. I was healthy before (no comorbitities and didn't smoke and hardly drank), so that always makes things go smoother.
Hopeful to head home Saturday or Sunday...as soon as my INR levels stabilize where they want them.
I''m happy answer any questions in the meantime.
Ken.
So glad you were able to be more informed. And you also know as time passes, you will see more improvements in Open Heart Surgery. When I had my first one, a repair on the aortic valve, repairs on aortic valve were still new. Then a few years after my repair, they were doing more for babies, then the babies in the womb. So many improvements all the time. So just do what you have to do to recover. Listen to what the doctors tell you and you will do fine.
 
I posted on January 14 in the New Members section. I learned so much leading up to my surgery from this community and I had my surgery this past Monday, March 4. Here some of my experiences so far for those who are curious...
55 yo male. Born with BAV (stenosis type). Was watching it with echo''s since 2107. It reached severe stage in November, and met with Surgeon 1 of 2 on January 10. I got a second opinion (which is totally fine and no surgeon should mind) and decided on him and the hospital seemed like a better fit for me (Brigham & Woman's in Boston, MA). My aneurysm was just over the cusp of needed replacement (5.2) so had that grafted while they were in there. The also found a hole in my heart not seen on the scans, so they took care of that too.
I got an On-x valve after much reading. My bottom line was I just didn't want to go through this a second time if I didn't have to. Yes it ticks, and sometimes if sounds like a bang! But it's super early and that will change a bit, including having it fade into my day to day life.
Yes, you do feel like a truck hit you. Even with attentive cardiac nurses and well-discovered drug timing and doses, there will be uncomfortable moments. Sleeping for me has been a marathon. Sleeping what felt like large blocks of time (say, four hours each) was really about one hour each. The first night was the worst of it.
I'm still a big mentally groggy, but following the instructions by the recovery team seems to do the trick. I was healthy before (no comorbitities and didn't smoke and hardly drank), so that always makes things go smoother.
Hopeful to head home Saturday or Sunday...as soon as my INR levels stabilize where they want them.
I''m happy answer any questions in the meantime.
Ken.
What kind of help did you need at home and for how long ? Thanks and best wishes Ken !
 
What kind of help did you need at home and for how long ? Thanks and best wishes Ken !
@newarrior I was lucky to have a spouse and two teen daughters (14 and 19) to help out. After a couple days of shuffling around, I've done most things mostly independently anyway. You're not an invalid, you'll just be a bit slow and weak. Take it easy, go slow. With some advanced preparation, you can hobble around and get most things done. However, I'm not going to lie...it gives one tremendous peace of mind to have someone in shouting range to assist. For additional peace of mind I dialed up our local emergency services and let them know I was a new heart patient in early recovery (I live in a small town). They noted it and said "call us anytime," to which I thanked them and said "I hope not." :)
 

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