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J

jmo3

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
11
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Hello,

I am technically new to the forums but have been checking here often over the past few months. I want to first and foremost thank the creators of and contributors to this site; it has been a very rich and helpful resource as I was preparing for and now as I am recovering from surgery.

As a child I was misdiagnosed as having mitral valve prolapse. It wasn’t until I was 34 years old that an astute PCP heard something else. A cardiologist then discovered that my “murmur” was actually due to a bicuspid aortic valve. With mild regurgitation it was a watch and wait scenario that lasted 12 years.

I am now 46 years old and although I was asymptomatic the regurgitation had become severe enough and my left ventricle was getting large enough to warrant valve replacement. I chose to get an ON-X mechanical valve.

My surgery took place exactly six weeks ago on July 1[SUP]st [/SUP]at Weill Cornell Medical Center in NYC. My surgeon was Dr. Leonard Girardi. I cannot speak highly enough of him and his team; I feel very fortunate to have found a surgeon with such an exceptional level of knowledge, experience and skill.

I was back at work after one month (on August 1[SUP]st[/SUP] - I’m a teacher and administrator at a school in NYC) and today I am feeling really good. I attribute this to my age, my attitude/outlook pre and post-surgery, my dedication to walking (averaging almost four miles a day over the past month) and my wife. ;-)

The only lingering issue is a one inch opening at the bottom of my chest incision (not the chest tube holes, just an open portion of the incision) that I have been packing myself at home for the past couple of weeks. It is healing nicely but has been kind of annoying to deal with. Has anyone else had an issue with this?

Anyway, if anyone would like more details regarding my experience, preparation and/or recovery I’'d be happy to post more here or to chat via private messaging.

Best regards,

jmo3
 
Your story sounds similar to mine. I had my On-X on 6 July (47) and I go to work on Monday. I'm walking lots as well and spending an hour on the exercise bike. Your wound is healing, which is important. My mother had a wound that lasted for ages, after her back operation. Get good nursing advice. They're the experts in dressings. I noticed a bit of seepage from a 3mm break in my wound two days ago. I started taking antibiotic I had left over from my lung infection. Now it's just a clean scab. So soon after surgery, it doesn't take much to rattle me.

How are you finding the On-X? I've got a bigger version. I'm thinking of hiring myself out as a metronome.
 
Welcome jmo3. Glad you came in from out of the shadows. New folks to this site can use your experience to help "tamp down" their own fears. I've read posts that address incision healing issues so you might try to "search" for some older posts. Always work closely with your doc to resolve open incision problems.
 
jmo3;n867331 said:
Hello,

I am technically new to the forums but have been checking here often over the past few months. I want to first and foremost thank the creators of and contributors to this site; it has been a very rich and helpful resource as I was preparing for and now as I am recovering from surgery.
Click to expand...

thanks for popping out of the shadows :)

best wishes for your recovery. Sounds like its all doing well.

Could you clarify this:
The only lingering issue is a one inch opening at the bottom of my chest incision (not the chest tube holes, just an open portion of the incision) that I have been packing myself at home for the past couple of weeks. It is healing nicely but has been kind of annoying to deal with. Has anyone else had an issue with this?
Click to expand...

I'd be concerned that it may be surface colonisation by bacteria. Please send a photo but above all discuss this with your doctor pronto!
 
Jmo, it might be time for a course of antibiotics. NO big deal.

I spiked a temp about a week after leaving hospital. Had already developed an effusion. Probably a bit of pneumonia. Settled within a week.

This little wound, checked it today.... Gone.

A tablet twice a day for a week might speed up that annoying little hole. Talk to a nurse.
 
Thanks for the replies. I should have elaborated; the nurse practitioner removed two stitches from the bottom of the incision when I went in for my follow up which is why there is a small wound. They sent me home with the packing supplies. Everything is looking good, it was just an unexpected bonus having to do my own wound care at home. ;-)
 
Cool. Great things are going well. All my stitches were internal.
You're a teacher right and have an On-X? Can the kiddies hear your valve?
My children (wonder where they got it from?) and their friends treat it like a joke:
Every time I raise my voice, it's "Get your arse clicked!"
 
It would make perfect sense that young people can hear your valve, while you may not hear it yourself. As we age, our high-frequency hearing deteriorates. Since the sound of the valve is very high-pitched, the younger they are, the more likely they are to hear it.

Anybody else here old enough to remember being able to hear the television set's horizontal output transformer's 15,000 Hertz "tone" when TV's had vacuum tubes (valves, to my friends in the UK)?
 
I hear it too Steve. it's a constant reminder, but I'm getting used to it.
When I was in ICU I couldn't hear it and was quite pleased with myself. But that was probably all the fluid and background noise.
 
epstns;n867432 said:
Anybody else here old enough to remember being able to hear the television set's horizontal output transformer's 15,000 Hertz "tone" when TV's had vacuum tubes (valves, to my friends in the UK)?
Click to expand...
Yes, I remember it. I have acutely good hearing still, it can be a real bane when I hear things other people don't, and one of the reasons I would not have wanted a mech valve - the noise would drive me nuts !
 
Paleogirl;n867436 said:
Yes, I remember it. I have acutely good hearing still, it can be a real bane when I hear things other people don't, and one of the reasons I would not have wanted a mech valve - the noise would drive me nuts !
Click to expand...
Most get used to it, but I did meet someone who seemed quite distressed by the clicking. A cardiologist told me one of her patients became depressed by the noise. For me personally it's not a deal breaker. Small price to pay, along with the INR monitoring. Others have commented that theirs got quieter. The ATS is known for being less noisy. People have options and need to weigh up what's right for them. Right now, as I'm lying in bed typing on my iPad, I can hear the contraption making a hell of a racket. But soon I'll be asleep and it will no longer be an issue..... ZZzzzzzz
 
epstns;n867432 said:
It would make perfect sense that young people can hear your valve, while you may not hear it yourself. As we age, our high-frequency hearing deteriorates. Since the sound of the valve is very high-pitched, the younger they are, the more likely they are to hear it.

Anybody else here old enough to remember being able to hear the television set's horizontal output transformer's 15,000 Hertz "tone" when TV's had vacuum tubes (valves, to my friends in the UK)?
Click to expand...



HAHAHAHA. After 12 years of heavy duty chainsaw and half of it without a sound protection, I can relate to what you say. At 30 I never hear my valve, unless I focus and there is 0 noise around me. Sometimes it is not bad when you are half deaf, also when your wife yells at you, you figure she is just talking.
 
JulienDu;n867494 said:
HAHAHAHA. After 12 years of heavy duty chainsaw and half of it without a sound protection, I can relate to what you say. At 30 I never hear my valve, unless I focus and there is 0 noise around me. Sometimes it is not bad when you are half deaf, also when your wife yells at you, you figure she is just talking.
Click to expand...

Well, this is the thing. Maybe the valve gets quieter (to us) because we age and lose some of the hearing we had as kids.
 
JulienDu;n867494 said:
HAHAHAHA. After 12 years of heavy duty chainsaw and half of it without a sound protection, I can relate to what you say. At 30 I never hear my valve, unless I focus and there is 0 noise around me. Sometimes it is not bad when you are half deaf, also when your wife yells at you, you figure she is just talking.
Click to expand...

This is a "guy" thing. We call it "selective perception." My dad taught me well. . .
 
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