Recent content by Dana

Thanks pellicle. Good advice. I don't talk her down, she wouldn't listen to any negativity anyway. I do have a positive attitude. I think that's a prerequisite to going ahead with the surgery and I want to be there for her. I'll mention the bunny suit. :-)

If I make it, I'll be in the ICU for a few days or more without cell phone so if I don't post right away, don't count me out. i hope to be functioning at a low level in a week or so. Thank-you, I appreciate your prayers!

Update: A second repair was done in Sept 2023 with more plugs around the mitral valve thereby avoiding a second OHS. However, in January 2024 symptoms were back. My cardiologist thought the only way to fix it was with a 2nd OHS. Reluctantly because in my worsened and older condition I didn't...

About to find out. My paravalvular leak is back as confirmed by a right heart catheterization yesterday. The pressures in the right atrium are the same as they were just prior to the leak repair. This may indicate that the exact same leak is back, that the leak grew worse despite or because of...

Yes, it was a TV episode. New Brain from Currys. https://montypython.fandom.com/wiki/New_Brain_from_Currys?file=Grandstand6.PNG I found this on YouTube: The rest of your post is interesting. I have asked about treating valve leaflets with some non-stick surface. No good answers though...

I was hoping that the bleed risk would diminish with dose decrease. If bleed risk correlates with platelet inhibition, a smaller aspirin dose should affect fewer platelets and should result in less platelet inhibition therefore less bleed risk, but probably less cardiovascular benefit. Keeping...

Sounds like a plan. I think I will try that too. No, never actually figured out what caused the bleed. All my own theories (OD of iron which I take to help with the hemolytic anemia, zinc) were rejected by various doctors that I asked. So the only thing left was aspirin which is known to...

Two months ago I stopped my 81 mg/day aspirin. The stoppage was recommended by an ER doctor after my stomach bleed, more specifically, the duodenum. I knew it was happening by noticing black stools but I had more important things to do, so I thought, and by the time I went to the ER my...

Regarding rerouting the PM lead. I'm assuming the surgeon ran the lead right through the tricuspid valve where it can interfere with the leaflets. Apparently that is standard procedure because my surgeon was going to do the same thing. During our discussion prior to the OHS I asked if the lead...

Somehow I have two different log-in IDs. Delucadana and Dana are one and the same. Haha, one teaspoon is still a treat for me, though. I sometimes wonder if I allowed myself to eat as much natto as I want, if I would get sick of it. For a while I made my own natto in a pressure cooker but my...

Don't forget that there are different forms of K2. Over the counter supplements are available typically for MK-4 and MK-7 forms. MK-4 does nothing to my INR but MK-7 acts just like K1 in me. I would be interested to know what kind you take. Check your bottle to see what kind of K2 you are using...

Gail, we have an online portal where patients can request appointments, see test results, view visit notes and compose/receive messages to/from our doctors. I use it quite frequently probably to the annoyance of the doctors but if I have something I would like to ask I don't wait for the next...

I had the leak closed on Sept 25, 2023 and it was none too soon as I was even waking up short of breath at night. It took three valvular plugs of 12mm, 8mm, and 6mm in diameter to diminish the leak from 'borderline severe to trace'. Do I feel better? A little, but there was about over three...

Anyone had a paravalvular leak (PVL) repaired? After complaining of anemia, SOB on exertion, and hemolysis, a TEE was performed and a significant leak around the outside of my mechanical mitral valve was found allowing a jet of blood to gush back up into the left atrium resulting in inefficient...