Homeskillet
Well-known member
Much to my shame it’s been several years since I’ve last posted. After being on here for several years life resumed & got veryyyy busy. But, no excuses, I should’ve made a concerted effort to remain active. Thus, I guess I’m now joining the countless others who come back home when new issues arise
.
Not sure who’s still around but, briefly, I had 2 mitral valve replacements virtually back-to-back about 7.5 years ago now. 1st one was a tissue replacement that failed 1 year later—hence the 2nd OHS which was done with the On-X (mitral). This forum was absolutely phenomenal in those couple of years with all of the input & education. I can honestly say that I’ve probably learned more from this forum than I have, well, shall we just say, anywhere else (don’t get me started about the Coumadin Clinics
!).
Well, now, my last echocardiogram (3 days ago) now shows that my Aortic Valve (native) has gone from mild regurgitation to severe regurgitation within a very short period (about 8 months)—which, obviously, is not good. My ejection fraction has also dropped from 45% (which in itself was not very good in the first place) to 35%-40%, almost certainly due to the aortic regurgitation worsening. (I’m a 57 yr. old male & in otherwise decent shape—except for the shortness of breath from low EF.)
My cardiologist told me that the aortic is typically not replaced as quickly as the mitral valve’s are, but that they would start watching it every 6 months. Regardless, it seems very apparent that a soon 3rd OHS is coming down the pike relatively soon. I assume that they’ll likely go with another On-X since I’m already on Coumadin anyway—likely raising my INR range due to 2 mechanical valves.
Honestly, I barely survived the last OHS & my wife and I have serious doubt that I would survive a 3rd surgery. We realize that no one on here can predict the future—nor is this a place that we seek professional input. Conversely, however, as my last surgeon told me about INR management post-surgery, “Those people probably know more about INR management than I do!” While we certainly understand that the same cannot be said regarding the outcome of a highly probable 3rd surgery—I would feel remiss if I didn’t seek out any non-professional input from those that have possibly (?) already experienced many of these procedures and/or post-operative complications.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated—to put it mildly. Thank you in advance.
![Smiling face with smiling eyes :blush: 😊](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60a.png)
Not sure who’s still around but, briefly, I had 2 mitral valve replacements virtually back-to-back about 7.5 years ago now. 1st one was a tissue replacement that failed 1 year later—hence the 2nd OHS which was done with the On-X (mitral). This forum was absolutely phenomenal in those couple of years with all of the input & education. I can honestly say that I’ve probably learned more from this forum than I have, well, shall we just say, anywhere else (don’t get me started about the Coumadin Clinics
![Face with rolling eyes :rolling_eyes: 🙄](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f644.png)
Well, now, my last echocardiogram (3 days ago) now shows that my Aortic Valve (native) has gone from mild regurgitation to severe regurgitation within a very short period (about 8 months)—which, obviously, is not good. My ejection fraction has also dropped from 45% (which in itself was not very good in the first place) to 35%-40%, almost certainly due to the aortic regurgitation worsening. (I’m a 57 yr. old male & in otherwise decent shape—except for the shortness of breath from low EF.)
My cardiologist told me that the aortic is typically not replaced as quickly as the mitral valve’s are, but that they would start watching it every 6 months. Regardless, it seems very apparent that a soon 3rd OHS is coming down the pike relatively soon. I assume that they’ll likely go with another On-X since I’m already on Coumadin anyway—likely raising my INR range due to 2 mechanical valves.
Honestly, I barely survived the last OHS & my wife and I have serious doubt that I would survive a 3rd surgery. We realize that no one on here can predict the future—nor is this a place that we seek professional input. Conversely, however, as my last surgeon told me about INR management post-surgery, “Those people probably know more about INR management than I do!” While we certainly understand that the same cannot be said regarding the outcome of a highly probable 3rd surgery—I would feel remiss if I didn’t seek out any non-professional input from those that have possibly (?) already experienced many of these procedures and/or post-operative complications.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated—to put it mildly. Thank you in advance.
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