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If you can handle managing your INR, get the mechanical. But... When I got my Epic bioprosthetic 10 years ago at 44, I made that choice because I was an emotional wreck, and not just because of my coming surgery. I was the guy who freaked out when my salt water aquarium chemical levels would go...

Hah, yeah I'm the same. There was a time where I could fend off meds with a doctor's good advice and my own discipline. I still get good advice, but the discipline has been more difficult to come by. I wish I could find better support at home... oh, what a tangled web.

I'm just over 8 years out from bioprosthetic AVR, with a Dacron replacement of my proximal arch (rather than the root, unusual, I know). My BP has roughly averaged around 138/78 for years. (Over the last decade, I've seen as low as 115/70 and as high as 150/90, under normal physical/emotional...

Thanks for going deeper Pellicle. If I understand the numbers, the valves themselves are holding up, but severe stenosis can develop within 5 years (using >40mmHg as a definition of severe AS). This is, as you point out the issue with patient age, even more concerning since older patients are...

I know we had a post in this section from 2017, but this news from the NIH seems even brighter. I should have another 5 years at least with my 6 year old Epic. By the time I get my bioprosthetic replaced, I imagine low-risk/asymtpomatic TAVR patients will be common. Now I had a blimp of an...

Hi Paul1972, I had a few noticeable PVCs before my surgery (almost 5 years out now), probably a lot I did not notice, and a lot more since. Most times I couldn't get them to happen in the doc's office but as they became more prevalent he was able to record them. PVCs (apparently a type of...

You got an LOL outta me :)

Thanks, Superman (heh). I know what you're saying. I know that any change of my body and habits is not just ultimately but is wholly up to me. My question though was not about needing a kick in the pants, but rather in regard to the numbers vs the concern of medical professionals. How would you...

My BP is regularly 130-145/80-90. I take 75mg/day metoprolol. I'm about 30lbs overweight (5'6", 180lbs) and since the start of 2018 my exercise routine has been non-existent. I don't really watch my salt intake, though I don't go crazy with salt. I have naturally low total cholesterol (~130) I...

The way my surgeon put it was like this: If they dig me up a thousand years from now, they'll find my bones, my valve and the dacron tube. He also told me that over time the graft becomes part of you, overgrown with the same cells that line your natural arteries. Who knows what will happen...

Pellicle ... omg... the photo! Now I have to clean up the milk and Cheerios I spit across the table :Face-Laugh: So glad I got .a bioprosthetic :Smile:

There are many options for blood pressure meds. You should bug your cardio poke around the pharmacy some more. If you cannot get him or her to keep working with you, I'd find a second opinion. It sounds like you are in good physical shape already, and so that and your youth would make for the...

Thanks for the replies you guys. Obviously, I'm still alive, and I'm not having further pain, etc. It must've been muscle related. Yes, it did feel weird getting the leads taken out... though the catheter was much more disconcerting. If I recall correctly, and I might not be, the PA had the...

Doh! Sorry for the frustration! Sounds like you've got that in check though :)

This is really a two-parter. 1. After my AVR in 2013 the physician's assistant who removed my post-op pacemaker leads screwed up. The lead slipped from her fingers and snapped back into my chest. My surgeon's lieutenant assured me it wasn't a problem and especially not compared to opening me up...

Oh, you guys... ;) Google "aspirin and gout" (without the quotes) and you will see that the first five hits make a clear connection, including an NIH study. (No offense to the NHS, LondonAndy, but I'll take a study over an advice page any day.), Those other negative factors which I foolishly...

I'm 4.5 years out from my AVR now, bioprosthetic , so I take aspirin. There are other contributing factors, but I am sure that the aspirin is the worst, consistent factor giving me regular soreness and then the occasional full blown gout attack just by adding in three or four units alcohol. I...

dixitworld, I am in San Francisco as well. Almost 4 years out from AVR and replace of my proximal arch and some of the innominate artery with Dacron. This was done by the head of thoracic at CPMC, Dr. Vincent Gaudiani. He's very, very confident and a real mensch, but clearly compassionate. He's...

Wow, thanks all for the great responses, it got me think read more. I've been keeping this all in mind and trying to evaluate some long-standing patterns in my life. I remembered that I had noticed PVCs, just a bit, some time before surgery. Cardio had me on a Holter and saw nothing significant...

I'm almost 4 years out from my AVR with a bioprosthetic valve and a chunk of my proximal and innominate artery replaced with a Dacron graft. Right after surgery I had a lot of PVCs, that's to be expected. After a few months the cardio and I finally settled on 75mg/day for metoprolol. I am very...