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brian josef

HI.
Just came home from Kaiser hospital today. Had my Aortic valve and root replaced with a porcine stentless valve. I'm 44 and was in ok shape, the surgury was done on monday. My wife found your web site and I just wanted to say Hi. Maybe I will have some questions down the road. Thanks.
Brian.
P.S. If any questions to me don't hesitate.
 
Hi Brian,

Welcome to the group. My name is martha and I had an aortic valve replacement on 12-15-00 at the age of 49. I choose a homograph.

This is a wonderful group of people who will be able to answer any and all questions. Take it easy and remember to walk,walk,walk. Looking forward to seeing more of your posts.
 
Brian... welcome!
Take care of yourself in the next few weeks.... don't overdo and careful when you sneeze! lol

I will celebrate my one-year anniversary of my mitral valve repair in October. It's been quite a year and I've learned a lot from groups like these.

Take care,
Zazzy
 
Hey Brian - we've been waiting for you - come on in and visit with us. This is a wonderfully supportive group who can share experiences and information with you. Welcome and God bless
 
Hi Brian! Hope all is well!

I, too, am new to this site and have found the "club members" delightful, assuring and informative.

What I'ld like to ask you is: Did you have a choice of valves? And, if so, what made you go for that particular type? (I'm 41 years-old and will meet a surgeon on Friday. I want to be as informed as possible). I've been told that, at our age, subsequent replacements will be necessary and that a mechanical valve would last longer (the theory being that two operations in a lifetime are better than three). I've also been told that scar tissue (if three or more replacements are needed) is difficult to carve through, thus making the mechanical valve more appropriate. However, I've always been active. I've been a roller hockey referee and worked out moderately. One of my problems is trying to decide (if I'm even given a choice {I'll know Friday}) what valve is best for me. I really don't want to comprimise my lifestyle too much if I don't have to. Any comments on my situation?

Thanks and All The Best,

Steve
 
Hi again to everyone. First night at home fun, scary,peaceful and quiet. Walked my first 1/4 mi.on my new treadmill will try to do it 4x today also my small handheld breathing machice is great when watching tv. To Steve , you asked why i chose this valve here are some reasons.1. all of your reasons (I have had hockey and motorcycle injuries worse than this. I still HAVE to keep very active cause psychiatrists are more expensive than Surgeons. 2. May get more time with this valve than they know at this time(and who knows where I'll be 15 +years from now). 3. No ticking sounds. 4. No Coumadin (can still drink wine ).

But here is the disclosure; I have been wrong many times before so watch who you follow.

Brian.
 
Hey Brian

Hey Brian

Hi Brian-
Hope you are doing okay. I had the Ross Procedure 7/12. I picked the anit-mechanical route for a lot of your same reasons. Wine is supposed to be good for the heart. My cardio, who is also my next door neighbor, sent me a bottle after my surgery! He is a huge wine gormet! What better endorsement than that.
Take it easy and beware that dreaded sneeze!
-mara
 
Hi again,
Well I lived through another day. Walked 3/4 miles on the new treadmil, up and down the stairs a few times and took a nap with my primary caregiver (wife). Couple of things I noticed , My skin feels clammy but no fever- have no appetite -forcing down my food and drinks . My heart beats hard when moving around ~ 90 beats per minute, didn't sneeze yet but do cough and sometimes wheeze when laying down and that hurts. My homecare nurse is coming over tomorrow but talked to her on the phone today. She has sugested one 500mg tylenal and one Vicadin at the same time every 6 hours for pain relief. She seems nice. Actually, everyone has been so professional and nice at Kaiser. Kaiser in San Francisco does all the heart operations for all its Northern California Kaiser members and is rated in the top 50 in the country for cardiac surgery.
 
Brian, don't be brave - take the painkillers. If you don't take them, your upper body will tighten up involuntarily. It's really important to do your breathing exercises and it's tough to do breath deeply on an ongoing basis when your muscles are all battened down.

3/4 of a mile is pretty heavy duty so early on. Good for you, but please be careful. You just had major surgery, you need rest too.
Kev
 
Welcome Brian

Welcome Brian

Hi Brian .. and welcome to our group. Sounds like you're doing very well.... one day home from the Hospital and already walking almost a mile on the treadmill That's fantastic. Glad to see you mention your new best friend -- the infamous breathing machine (spirometer). That wonderful gadget and walking will get you feeling better quicker than anything else (except of course enough good rest).

Like you, I also had almost no appetite at first. It was a chore to get food down. Within a month or so you'll get your old appetite back (for better or worse, lol).

You also mentioned a hard beat. I remember my heart beat felt so different after my AVR (homograph)... sometimes it was a very hard pronounced beat, and other times it seemed quite normal. It really takes a while for your heart to regain a constant steady rhythm after being cut on. I'm now 15 months post-op and I'm rarely aware of my heartbeat. As they say, "all in due time".

Glad you found our group. I wish I had known about it before my surgery .. or even while I was home recuperating. I finally found the site about 4 months post-op... So please keep in touch and let us help you any way we can. I remember that my cardio told me in the hospital that I would feel 100% better each day. And I think that was true for quite a while. It just keeps getting better and better.

Take care ~
 
Stentless and homograft

Stentless and homograft

Hello all --

Question for Brian, question for Bill.

First, hope your recovery continues to come up roses, Brian, and that you go from strength to strength. Am following in your approximate steps with a surgery scheduled for mid-to-late August.

My question(s) for you, when you have a moment from the much more important recovery agenda: was the stentless porcine valve the Toronto SPV, or what model did the surgeon (or you) pick? How long of an operation was it, and how much of that time (more or less) was spent on the bypass? What "life expectancy" or likely range does your surgeon give on the average to the valve? How do you and he see likelihood of eventual reoperation when (and if) the stentless poops out?

Sounds like I'm giving you the third degree! I guess that's the flipside of this listserve -- not just lots of wellwishers, but lots of curious ones.

Bill -- am interested by the homograft solution you adopted, the more so as we seem to be of more or less the same "vintage," you and I. Could you send me (separately if you'd like) some details about your procedure, how you chose it and how it went? Maybe they are in earlier threads buried somewhere, and I'd be happy to refer back to them. Homograft is one option I am looking at, including one of the most recent forms, the Cryolife SG -- which practicing surgeons like Martin at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL hope may prove to be "permanent," thanks to an approach that purportedly allows the patient's organism to repopulate the graft with his/her own cells, and so avoid immune reactions and most calcification. (But that's pretty hypothetical, as obviously there isn't much data to support it yet.)

Very best to you both!

Peter
 
Pete,

The valve is Medtronic 27mm Freestyle aortic valve and aortic root. Records show the procedure was 5:50 plus about an hour prior to that for anesthesia. Don't know how much of that time was on the heart/lung machine.

This valve has been in use since 1992 in the US. My doctor has said they've had excellent results so far. No failures due to malfunction or even deterioration yet since it's so new. I'm hoping I'll get 12 to 15 years use out of it. Wish I had a crystal ball. Still, I felt it was the best choice for me.

Good luck,
Brian

ps. My wife brought me a Burger King Whopper for lunch and I scarfed the whole thing down. I'm so glad to have a quarter pound of ?meat in me no matter where it's from.
Maybe Chinese tonight?
 
Back to Peter..

Back to Peter..

Peter,
I'm afraid that my valve-choice was rather unscientific and a decision hastily made since my aortic stenosis was soooo bad. I knew that I didn't want to be on coumadin (since I had seen my mother-in-law have a rough time with it); and I also knew that the ticking of the mechanical valve would drive me crazy... I'm a very fragile sleeper.

What I did was to find the most-skilled surgeon, the absolute best-of-the-best.... that pretty well determined which hospital I would use. Then I met with the surgeon and he gave me the valve options. At my age (53) he really felt that the mechanical valve would be best for me... but he didn't try and talk me out of the homograph either.

So I went into surgery with my list of preferences:
1) homograph
2) bovine
3) porcine &
4) mechanical

I feel very fortunate to have made the decisions that I made. My surgeon is noted to be very "quick".... my homograph surgery was only 2.5 hours, plus another 30 minutes to close. That means that my time on the h-l machine was not too long either and that was important to me. Again, the short surgery time had to do with my surgeon... other surgeons take considerably longer with the homograph since it's a more technically advanced procedure than the mechanical.

BTW, you can read my story (Bill Clifford) in the list of VR.com Personal Stories section. It was written about 3 months post-op.

I'll be glad to chat with you one-on-one. Feel free to email me or ask any questions you might have.

Take care ~
 
Last edited:
Another Welcome!

Another Welcome!

Brian,
I am a little late greeting you...been doing summery things. Anyway was interested to see another motorcyclist selecting a homograft. The bike and my farming just didn't seem to fit into the mechanical life styles. Is your appetite getting better? They told me the nausea was from the morphine? Anyway I think I was doing a lot better on my own food at home within the first week. Keep in touch.
 
Welcome

Welcome

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the forum. Glad that you are making progress so quickly. This group will be able to answer many questions. I am a 2 valve mechanical girl so my experiences will be different.

Sounds like you are making outstanding progress.

Joann & John
 
Hi Brian

I, too, am a bit late in saying hello but wanted to get you greeted anyway.

I returned home from my AVR surgery on Monday. My doctor advised doing one activity then resting/lying down for 15-30 minutes. Then doing the next, etc. When I don't, I get that clammy feeling, too. Are you taking a heart regulator for awhile such as Pacerone?

Best wishes for a continued speedy recovery.
Dianne
 
Hi Brian

Hi Brian

So glad that everything worked out so well for you. Best wishes for a happy and healthy life ahead!
 
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