MVR Surgery June 2, St. Jude Valve,

[irishknitter]

I am 61 yrs and have severe regurgitation, with few symptoms. Three years ago I was told to plan on surgery 8-10 yrs down the road. Then, last November my cardiologist said I had gone down to severe catagory, and should do surgery soon. I waited 6 months because I just moved here 18 months ago, and wanted another echo in the same place, etc. Surgery is now scheduled for Thursday, June 2. I chose the mechanical St. Jude because I don't want to do this surgery again in 10-12 yrs. My mother had the same surgery at 66 in 1992, and also chose St. Jude.

Anyone else choose St. Jude, and how are you doing?

 

[Greg a]

as mentioned in your other thread:

I am 61 yrs and have severe regurgitation, with few symptoms. Three years ago I was told to plan on surgery 8-10 yrs down the road. Then, last November my cardiologist said I had gone down to severe catagory, and should do surgery soon. I waited 6 months because I just moved here 18 months ago, and wanted another echo in the same place, etc. Surgery is now scheduled for Thursday, June 2. I chose the mechanical St. Jude because I don't want to do this surgery again in 10-12 yrs. My mother had the same surgery at 66 in 1992, and also chose St. Jude.

Anyone else choose St. Jude, and how are you doing?

Adding you tto our VR family calendar.............WELCOME to our VR FAMILY we are all brothers and sisters in OHS

 

[dtread]

I don't have St Jude but it has a long, proven track record. Just wanted to welcome you to the "club" and wish you well on your journey "over the mountain".

 

[Jkm7]

At age 61, you would be far, far more likely to get in the range of 18-20 years from a tissue valve than a younger person can expect.

If you have an interest in tissue valve, you absolutely should further discuss this with your surgeon. I see the scheduled date of your surgery but it is not too late for you to ask more questions. This is far too important a decision to make without having accurate, full information from your doctors. The shortened longevity expectation you mention does not apply to people 60 and over.

I received a tissue valve and am so grateful I made that choice.

All best wishes.

 

[irishknitter]

I am satisfied with my choice because I do not want to do this surgery again, and I've been told that there is a good chance of ending up on Coumadin from some other heart issue later on anyway. Just wanted to hear some other experiences. Thanks for the welcome and will get back with you from the other side of the mountain! Right now I am pretty nervous, but have gotten so much useful info from this site!

 

[jennifer]

Irishknitter,
I just had my surgery 3 weeks ago, but I had a St.Jude's tissue valve because of my desire to avoid lifetime Coumadin at age 38. Just to encourage you, I am feeling pretty well and am walking almost 2 miles a day. Like you, I live in Tennessee. I did my surgery at Vanderbilt, and I cannot say enough positives about the treatment and staff there. To be completely honest, the surgery was tough and I had a lot of nausea the first five days. I also had to be transfused 3 units. At one point, I did think "Maybe I should've gotten mechanical because I never want to do this again!" However, as you will read on this forum, you WILL get better everyday and this is totally do-able! Hang in there and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[Natina13]

Irishknitter
Welcome to the family. Best of luck today on your surgery. May you have a speedy recovery. Sending positive caring thoughts your way. See you on the other side of the mountain !
Go Team 2011 !!!
Renee

 

[irishknitter]

I searched for other people with mechanical mitral valves, and I was impressed by Superman's reply to someone who was bothered by the tickng sound. The reply stressed the fact that the best valve choice would be the one that minimized surgery re-dos, and that is totally my feeling. The less time I spend in the hospital, the better. I was really mentally ready for the surgery today, June 2, then I was bumped to tomorrow, June 3, because of an emergency. Now my brain is working overtime with crazy thoughts. Think I'll just watch some movies and knit today!!! See you on the other side of the mountain!

 

[Bina]

What a bummer being bumped. Best wishes tomorrow.

 

[Mileena46]

Good Luck on your surgery tomorrow. I have a mechanical mitral valve since July 2009. I do hear the clicking, but have never really regretted my choice. The absolute reason for my choice was less chance of re-do and the coumadin is not such a big deal. Just got to keep it checked! Again, good luck! You can do this, and you will be amazed how much better you will feel and how quickly you will recover!

Mileena

 

[Chris M]

Sorry to hear you got bumped, but best wishes for your surgery today, irishknitter. I'll be thinking of you!

I had my surgery 2.5 weeks ago - mechanical mitral valve implant. There seem to be a lot more aortic valvers than mitral valvers on this forum so I thought I would pipe up with my (albeit limited) experience so far.

I'm afraid I don't know what make/model I now have in my chest (we don't get to make such choices here in the UK, just the tissue/mechanical choice) but I can tell you that the mechanical noise is almost non-existent for me... I've only heard a very faint clicking under very specific circumstances (silent room at night or when my heart is beating a lot faster than usual and/or palpitating). So it IS possible to have a really quiet one but I do appreciate that every one is different and that your experience may be different. Even if you DO hear it, however, it is not that loud, in my experience. I'm sure one could easily learn to live with it.

Valve type is such a personal decision, I veered from mech --> tissue --> mech again over the period I was waiting for my surgery. The important thing is to just remember that whatever we choose has to be better than the diseased and failing valve we are replacing. After my surgery my surgeon told me my native valve was in a terrible state so I'm just glad to have something better in there now! Once the decision is made we must not look back... but look forward to a more optimistic and healthier period in our lives. It's still early days for me but I am greatly looking forward to increased fitness levels and greater enjoyment of my favourite activities.

Good luck to you, and I hope to hear good news from you as soon as you feel able to report back!

 

[Jason]

Sorry to hear you got bumped, and hope all is going well today. I am thinking of you!

 

[irishknitter]

You gotta love that John Lennon song, "Life is what happens, when you're making other plans", because that is what happened in my MVR surgery June 3. I was dead set on a St. Jude Mech valve, and awakened to find out that because of calcification I was implanted with a Hancock II Porcine Tissue valve.....and also had to have my tricuspid valve repaired in the process. My surgeon said there are "no guarantees, but these two procedures should serve me well for most, if not all, of my life".

What has totally blown me away is the feeling of calm I have over having the tissue valve vs the mechanical. I cannot explain it, but I feel extremely relaxed and so relieved to not have to take coumadin (at least not right now, anyway). I'm gaining strength back, but it is very slowly, and the slightest thing wears me out. My biggest issue is my regular seasonal allergies, which is such an aggrivation on top of the regular breathing issues.

But most of all, I'm alive! And now I know that my mitral valve issues came from having rhumatic fever as a child (I didn't know that). For now, all I can say is........Life Begins Again!