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Chuck, you don't need me to to tell you this but your attitude is to be admired.

At CC, the EKG device barely fit in the pocket. On my last day, just as I was about to get dressed to leave, I just pulled off all of the electrodes after nobody showed up to help. (OK, I can be like that!) That set off the alarms. A nurse came in VERY annoyed, admonishing me. I just smiled...

I was pumped with Lasix, but was also bloated with liquid.

There's no place like home. Congrats not the progress.

Excellent report. Congrats!

Must be that. I woke up and was like the Pillsbury Dough Boy. My hands were gigantic. I must've gained 15+ lbs. Took a good week for things to reduce and many many many more weeks for my ankles to de-kankle.

Not fun, NO sir! We all feel your pain because we all had it! Hang in there - you're almost there. I promise. If not, lunch is on me!

Congrats - trust me, it only gets better. And re the constipation. Let's just say my bowels went to sleep post surgery and awakened sometime late at night on Day 3 with me running to the bathroom and not making it. (Thankfully, the night nurse didn't make me feel badly about the mess 😱.)...

Chuck, best of luck. Keep us posted. And whatever you do...don't be a hero. Keep ahead of the pain. Remember to assign humor whenever possible. Can't wait to hear your story.

CC is a machine in the very best way. Surprisingly more personal than I expected but the prize was the quality of the surgery! Like you, I was looking for somebody with focus on the aorta? G’luck!!!

Oh, yes. If I didn't have the scar I wouldn't know anything had been done. Even the fog of reaching for a word here and there (beyond the normal senior moment) seems to have lifted. I mark it this way, and this worked for me: By two months, if Covid hadn't been a thing, I would have been able to...

You have to read the fine print. I was back at work at my desk (I work from home, mostly writing) on Day 11. The fine print: I was also falling asleep at my desk 🤪 sitting up. Like suddenly - out! It took weeks for my brain to get back in sync, and even long for the fog to fully lift. I just get...

GPR, my surgeon was Lars Svensson. I went with a bio, but I'm also much older than you are, so I likely have one replacement following this, via TAVR - assuming another valve doesn't fail or something else unexpected happens – if this valve goes somewhere near the distance of 8-15 years. The...

GPR, welcome to the club. Your membership card is in the mail! Pellicle is president. I had the full shebang at the CC. Aortic valve, root and ascending aorta with a CABGx1 thrown in as a bonus. Full sternotomy. Here we are, one year and two days out, now 68, and if it wasn't for the scar...

That brings back quite a memory: There is no way I would have been able to decipher why my wrist was swollen because my entire body was swollen b/c of the liquid buildup post-surgery. I was like the Michelin Man. My arms and wrists - all of me - were swollen. And I mean ALL of me (guys, that's...

Chuck, I second what Superman said. Mine was done 2 days before surgery. The biggest non-event of the whole ordeal. The worst part, if that, is the numbing shot in your wrist, which is where it is generally done these days. I was awake for the best part, which is when they were discussing the...

Chuck, you have no idea how well that attitude is going to serve. Throw a little humor in there and you should sail thru. Keep it real, respect the risks, know that it might not be a straight line (I had a complication caused by an incidental finding post-surgery) and just roll with it. After...

Two miles in 9 days?! That's impressive. Took me much longer than that but I remember specifically the day, probably a few weeks into it, when I didn't have to slow to a crawl to avoid chest tightness when walking up a certain hill on my route. It was an amazing feeling and is the moment I...

Wow that must be a super recent change!

Interesting! And re incisions - no, I think through the neck - central line, maybe? But I also had a vein removed from my leg (minimally invasive cuts) so that was enough down there. Did you ask why they went that way?