Recent content by Bee

I made sure I had a written list of questions and would go through them with either the PA or the two surgeons I interviewed for my surgery. You have to be your own advocate to feel confident that your surgeon and his team will do the best job fixing your body. I chose the surgeon who...

I had a bicuspid valve replaced, (73 yrs old) with a bovine valve and the doc also had to repair a sinus bleed on the back of my heart. So I went from a mini incision to a full OHS break and cut. Yes, it was a surprise but I was thankful for my surgeon not being in a hurry and missing it all...

Thanks for sharing your happy news! I am just two weeks out from my bovine valve replacement via OHS. If this could last 17 years (I’m 73) I would be over joyed…you have given me hope and encouragement to continue healthy living and losing those extra pounds.

Hi all, well I’m now 60 hours out from my surgery and each day gets better. I will write up some impressions of the experience when i get home, now I’m just concentrating on walking and breathing.. Glad I’m on the other side. Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. What a wonderful...

Well I am finally getting out of the waiting room into the OR. Tomorrow, after watching my condition since 2013, I will have open heart surgery to place a Carpentier-Edward’s Perimount aortic valve in my heart. I started this process after my yearly echo showed my bicuspid valve had moved to...

Being scared sounds normal, however please remind yourself that these surgeries are done, with success, 100,000 times a year. Plus your surgeon and team are a well oiled machine, there to get you to the other side, with great results. Sending you best wishes and easy landing!

Hi Carol, yes I did find a wonderful doctor and surgical team and my surgery will be Sept 18 if I can get over my seasonal asthma that has been a problem. If I have to postpone it’s fine, I know things will happen at the best point in time. Are you looking for a surgeon? I met with two very...

Hi Pmacky09, How are you doing now that you have had a month home? I am looking at my ohs in Sept and wonder if I am truly ready for this experience. I’ve done my research, found a surgeon and team I can trust, and believe in the process to improve my life and basically save it. My mantra has...

Hi Geoff, I understand the anxiety. I am in the middle of finding the right surgeon to replace my bicuspid valve. However, my approach is that at 72 years old, the moment they finish the surgery I will be reborn and given a new life, but with all the knowledge from my previous one. It is...

I haven’t decided on a valve yet, however it won’t be mechanical. This surgeon prefers bovine for a female at 72 yrs old. He felt the LAA would be a benefit to me because I have had a TIA and an old episode they found when they did a MRI in 2018. Yes, they have shown that an LAA can help...

Hi Valveittes, Just interviewed my first Surgeon for a bicuspid valve replacement. He spoke to me about joining a trial using an ArtiClip to close off my left appendage to reduce the risk of stroke due to Afib. Have any of you had this done because you had Afib going into surgery? If so what...

On another note…Sculpture from the Tate Britain. What does it look like to you? Called Eye, Nose and Cheek

Thank you all…some good advise. I’m recognizing that there are new symptoms that are telling me it is time. Thankfully I got my trip in to Scotland in April, and feel I did pretty well walking for 2 weeks all those hills and dales. But once I got home I could tell my stamina had decreased and...

Hi all, well I have been in the waiting room for 7 years and the news today is I am in the severe range after my yearly echo. How important is it to move quickly getting more diagnostic testing and set up an appointment with a surgeon. I want to do everything now but the system is slowing me...

After an hour of standing and making my homemade lentil vegetable soup I became dizzy, breathless and hung onto my counter until I could seat myself and put my Apple Watch on to do a ECG. It told me my heart rate was 194 and it could not show an ECG. I was able to get my heart rate down to 96...