Surgery date has been set to 03/27/2012

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Matunucktuna, best of luck and smooth recovery to you too. Maybe, we can chat on the phone several days after our surgeries.

Lyn, I asked the surgeon one more time and he said I should go and give 1 pint anyways. Even though I was a bit apprehensive about banking it only 2 weeks out, I will go with his suggestion.

Another update is that I spoke with some of the personal trainers and nutritionists that I'm friends with and they unanimously agreed that restoring RBC to norm for an athlete or a very active person can be done much faster than 4 weeks. The suggestion is that supplementation with Iron, Vitamin B-12 and Folate would be essential to increase and maintain production of RBCs. Also, there are some studies that show that since RBCs turn over more frequently in athletes (general life span of a RBC is about 120 days, and in athlete they are shorter for many reasons) it is plausible that increased rate of RBC turnover may be advantageous because young cells are more efficient in transporting oxygen.

Either way, I am going with surgeon's suggestion for this one. In addition I am upping food intake with Iron, B-12 and folate and eliminating heavy exercise until surgery while upping lighter-moderate endurance work which should keep on asking for intracellular oxygen which should keep on triggering/increasing RBC production.

On another note healthy range for a male's RBC count is: 4.7 to 6.1 million/uL. Mine is around 5.2 from last weeks blood test, thus even if I was to give-up 10% of that, I would still be within norm for a healthy male on the surgery date.
 
I'm shocked that your surgeon recommended donating blood, especially so close to surgery. When I brought it up to my surgeon he kind of laughed, and explained that 95% of the time there was not an issue with blood loss, that being said, he did explain a scenario that if something unlikely did go wrong and I lost more blood than I was suppose to, he explained what would go down, but was very confident that it wouldn't be an issue. I may be younger than you, but I'd bet you've got health over me, and yes it's good to have all your I'd dotted and t's crossed, I think you'll find that most of what you try to prepare for before surgery rarely ends up even being an issue and goes much more smoothly than I think alot of us expect, I know it did for me, surgery was hands down easiest part and quickest, I really hate how much anxiety I put on myself stressing about the surgery. The after math for me so far has been recovery, it sucks, but with a good mind set and good spirits you can conquer anything, but I'm sure you know most of that anyways.

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in on that topic, you'll be in my thoughts on the 27th and know you'll do great.

Cheers dude!
 
There seems to be two schools of thought on blood donation. I donated 2 units. The first about a month out and the second 2 weeks later, about 2 weeks prior to surgery. I almost completely recovered my blood count between donations and they had no effect on the way I felt at all. The morning after surgery my hematocrit was 22, about half of usual. That's rather low but quite common after OHS primarily due to hemodilution from priming the heart lung machine. I was dizzy when I stood up. I received a unit of my blood back. That raised my hematocrit to 28. I did not receive the 2nd unit. Two months later my hematocrit was back to 42. Had I not donated blood, would I have not had the fall in hematocrit after surgery? No. It might have fallen less, let's say to 24, in which case I would have not received any blood and would have remained most likely a bit dizzy. Blood bank rules in most hospitals prohibit blood transfusion for hematocrits over 24 in an attempt to preserve the blood supply. This applies to autologous blood as well, and is not necessarily a good thing. Yes, less blood gets used, but many people do not tolerate an acute fall in blood count of that magnitude. I didn't feel that great at 28, but I didn't die, and that is the primary outcome that is assessed in transfusion trials.

This article demonstrated an over all benefit to the blood supply by autologous donation in OHS. http://jama.ama-assn.org/content/262/14/1963.abstract
However, this was done at a time when I believe rules regarding blood transfusion were much more lax. Cellsavers and other methods to reduce blood loss may not have been as widely used either, but I'm not sure of that.

Here is a more recent paper about autologous donation in OHS that says that 35% of OHS patients will require transfusion, much lower than in the earlier study, but still a significant number. More patients chose to donate their own blood even after learning it was only 35% than before being told that. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11338799

This article indicates autologous donation is one of the core methods for reducing blood use during cardiac procedures, but direct this and other techniques at "high-risk' patients, the 10-15% of patients that consume 80% of the perioperative blood. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17462454

Finally, here's a real interesting paper on "tranfusion-less" surgery. The patients were given doses of erythropoetin, a very expensive biotech product, a copy of a natural hormone that stimulates red blood cell production (incidentally I worked for the company that launched this drug) and another drug prior to surgery and were able to avoid transfusion. The report notes that they were discharged with an average hematocrit "above 30". To me that's not so great when low normal is 42 for men and 38 for women. In this report a control group was transfused 57% of the time, a fair bit higher than in the other study above. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9179119

I think autologous donation is a good idea, at least if you think there is a good chance you will need a transfusion after surgery. You are sparing the blood supply by donating, and it costs about 1/3 as much as allogenic blood to process as it is not tested at all. True, it is wasted if you don't use it. At least at the blood center I went to, you get free cookies.
 
Hi Vadim:

Your surgery is soon to come and I will keep you in my prayers. I see you are trying to decide about which valve to use or have doubt about it. I will share my experience with you. I recently had an OHS and I decided to use the On-X mechanical valve because, according to my surgeon, there is a current study about the On-X valve and there is hope that in a few years, patients with this type of valve will not have to take Coumadin for the rest of their life.

You can read more at http://www.onxlti.com/heart-valves/low-anticoagulation-study/more-about-proact/

http://www.onxlti.com/heart-valves/low-anticoagulation-study/


Hope these information was helpful and the best for you :thumbup:

Mitral stenosis and aortic regurgtation
Mitral valve repaired Dec. 2009
Aortic valve replacement Feb. 2012
 
Donated blood today and got some free cookies and orange juice. You will laugh when I tell you that it was a cheat meal for me as I am mostly strict with my diet until my dinner time. Since it is only 1 unit donation I feel its ok to have all the i's dotten and t's crossed. My surgeon insisted and I did what he said. After all, I am trusting this guy with my life so if he makes a suggestion I better go with it.

Ovie, I am following your posts very closely, and it makes me feel better that you are recovering, albeit, slower than you wish. Stay strong mate and things will all turn for the better soon.

Bill B, you as well as Lyn, and many others are like master educators on here. I have now invested even more of my time reading and learning things which I will probably never use for money making purposes. Either way, I LOVE learning new things and getting more educated, even in random subjects like blood-work etc. Who knows, it might come in useful later, but for now I am just reading and learning.

When it comes to diet and exercise I hope to be as much of a resource to those that need help there.

Ajad2523, thank you for your post and support, it means a lot to me. I am already going with On-X, and keeping STJ Regent (http://www.sjmprofessional.com/products/us/heart-valve-replacement/st-jude-medical-regent.aspx) as a backup, notice how similar to On-X it looks. I think we are all hoping for those On-X studies to amount to somethings. However, let's be realistic and know that while we all hope for those studies to come through, even if they amount to nothing we are all still alive, kicking and ticking with a decent valve.
 
TheGymGuy
Well, the big lift is Tuesday and I'm sure you're pumped up for it. Seriously, you have the spirit of a lion and I know you'll do really well. You and your surgery team will be in our prayers during the surgery and then after, during post-op. Please keep us posted as time permits
 
Vadim, best wishes for a successful surgery and recovery. Being in good shape should help. Regarding the blood donation, I used to donate blood a lot before I went on Coumadin following my surgery. Now, there's not a blood bank around that will have me. I looked at blood donation as similar to an oil change on a car. I always used to feel somewhat tired the day of the donation but perked up the next day. I believe that donating blood forces your body to produce new blood cells, and in so doing purges some of the older blood and stimulates growth of new cells. At any rate, with your healthy life style you should do fine.
 
On deck for March 28th

On deck for March 28th

Well we can discuss our recovery which looks like the same time. I am getting a Sorin mechanical valve for my BAV which has severe stenosis. My symptoms have just started with a little shortness of breath but not much pain. My surgeon uses the sorin valve but I have not seen any posts of anyone who has had this valve?
 
Bassman said:
Well we can discuss our recovery which looks like the same time. I am getting a Sorin mechanical valve for my BAV which has severe stenosis. My symptoms have just started with a little shortness of breath but not much pain. My surgeon uses the sorin valve but I have not seen any posts of anyone who has had this valve?
Click to expand...

Bassman, good luck to you as well. Cannot wait to exchange stories with you, Dale, and others. By the way, I added you to the community calendar for March, 28th.

http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=2020&day=2012-3-28&c=1
 
Best of luck on your surgery. I kind of wanted a On-x myself, but my surgeon that the Top Hat was a better choice for me, I trusted his judgement. I didn't donate any blood for my surgery and it probably wouldn't matter. I noticed on one of my insurance EOB's that there was a line item for 53 units of blood. Yikes. Having a pint or two probably woundn't have done much good for me. The good news was after my surgery I mentioned to my surgeon I liked to lift weights and he assurred me I had no restrictions. That was good to hear.
 
Bassman said:
Thanks for adding me but my access was denied when trying to view the calendar....
Click to expand...

Bassman, I think that feature (calendar) is for paid members. I am not sure, though.
Mainframe, you have one awesome handle. I also agree that it is best to go with what surgeon thinks is best. If I do have restrictions later, I might just exercise to stay healthy and fit, and give up competing, but at this moment let's just hope it does not get there ;)
 
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Vadim, you got this! Sending good vibes for a successful surgery your way. We will see you on the other side. Keep us updated as soon as you're able to.
 
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