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INR was 1.6 this morning, up from 1.3 yesterday. My surgeon was kind enough to stop by and chat. He wants it at 1.7 or more to go home to be safe, so they will test me again this afternoon. Hopefully, giving the stew a little more time to brew will get me there—otherwise, just one more...

Wow, thanks for sharing that and your recommendations:

I'd highly recommend implants over a bridge. The biggest downside to the implants is the cost. In the long run, with the bridge, you are damaging perfectly healthy teeth. Eventually, those teeth are more likely to fail. That's what happened to my 30 year-old-bridge. I now need three...

Crap, INR was 1.3 this morning. I hoped to be released today and test outpatient until I'm therapeutic. I was otherwise ready to go home two days ago. Nope, they just hung a heparin bag to bridge. :( I've got to remember it's a bump in the road and be grateful for how well I'm doing. (y)

INR was 1.2 this morning. :( Yesterday was 1.1. The docs increased my warfarin to 7.5 mg today, up from 5 mg the last two days. Any reason I shouldn't push to go home tomorrow, promising to go to the clinic every day to get tested until I get into the therapeutic range. It sounds like...

A few details from my chart about my operation. Operation: 1. Redo Sternotomy 2. Aortic Valve Replacement 25mm St Jude Regent Aortic valve Aortic Cross Clamp Time:72" Cardiopulmonary Bypass Time: 54" Findings: bicuspid repair failure, sievers type 1, failure of the plication stitch on fused...

I'm doing fantastic, thankfully! Quick summary: Wed: Surgery day, extubated and woke up reasonably lucid in the ER, sat up in the chair for a couple of hours. Thurs: Spent most of the day in the chair, long walk, swans catheter removed. Friday: 2 of 4 chest tubes removed, pacer wires removed...

I seem to be doing fantastic 24 hours after my surgery. I got up for a pretty long walk and it felt great! They said I've been cleared to leave the cardiac ICU for the step down floor. Hopefully they won't have a room and I'll get another night here. Biggest problem is nausea from the...

My surgeon said the surgery could not have gone better today. I ended up with St. Jude mechanical. Already up in the chair and eating dinner. Thanks so much for all the well wishes!

^^^ Thanks! I'm going mechanical, most likely On-x. We'll see what he decides tomorrow. And I do have a GoPro, just too lazy to set it up every time. This is a special video with my GoPro, as it was just six months after my first OHS:

My surgery day is tomorrow! Here's my last day skiing for the season at Mary Jane two weeks ago. That's me skiing behind a friend while holding my phone in one hand and poles in the other. I'm hoping to be good as new for next season. Thanks for all the excellent advice!

My surgery is scheduled for June 1st! I'm fortunate to be in Colorado where we have a long ski season I'm milking. :D Question: In the category of best-laid plans, we have a beach vacation planned to fly out on Aug 6th, 8 weeks out from my surgery. I only plan to kick back and relax. We...

Is sternal healing after a second open heart surgery worse or takes longer than after a first surgery? For the category of man makes plans, and God laughs: I'm thinking about scheduling my surgery at the end of ski season but allowing enough time for me to heal enough for a family beach...

You answered why a repair is preferred here: My understanding is there is excess mortality with both mechanical and biologic valves over baseline, and a repair can have less long-term mortality because it's living tissue. This is why an aortic valve repair is preferred over both mechanical...

I talked with my surgeon. These are my notes I'm digesting: Need to fix it. Not sure, but it looks like a leaflet may have torn. Hard to tell from the imaging. Won’t know until in there. Recommends replacement with mechanical. Concerns about coumadin are overdone. He confirmed that...

I was reading up on valve choices and came across this: Why is that? Is it as simple as a bioprosthesis wears out sooner when driven harder? It's interesting and instructive to read the conflicting opinions on valve choice. For biologic valves at a younger age...

Thanks for that and all your many other posts I've read on valve choice. I'm 55 and leaning toward a mechanical valve. I was on coumadin for three months after my first surgery and didn't mind it. I had no issues taking it and maintaining my INR, and I would undoubtedly do home monitoring...

I did press a bit on why no skiing when I met with my sports cardiologist last month to discuss the results of my MRI. He's the doc who gave me my current activity restrictions pending meeting with my surgeon. It's probably worth sharing the discussion as it may be helpful for others...

After seeing my cardiologist yesterday, it looks like I may not be waiting too long. I now have an appointment with my surgeon Friday. Oh boy, that happened fast! My cardiologist didn't want to give an opinion, leaving the "when and what surgery" up to the surgeon. She did say they had...

Happy New Year (a bit late)! I've been ignoring cardiac things until I finished my last test today. Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses. @Chuck C, I really appreciate your similar experience and that on-point paper I hadn't seen. Thanks! Good news from my tests, I think. At...