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Help? Help? Watson, Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like you're going through a lot of stress despite your mother appearing to be okay with what she's been doing. A vein draw is a perfectly legitimate way to check INR... if one doesn't mind getting stuck with the needle. -Philip...

Flight? Flight? Hi Jim, It's easy to let our well-meant comments kinda freak you out. Some of the commentary here even confuses me. If it's any consolation, I was trying to talk my way out of the surgery that was going to save my life right up until they finally knocked me out. Move forward...

Fun Factor Fun Factor Don't forget the fun factor with your exercise program. If you enjoy running intervals, run intervals. Another issue involves your training goals. I focus my training routines on working within specific heart rate zones. I typically structure my training routines to put...

Choices? Choices? Others have made a couple of great points... the only bad choice is to not have your failing valve and growing aneuryism fixed... valve choice is personal and there are lots of variables to consider in your decision. Perspectives regarding anticoagulation vary dramatically...

Exercise? Exercise? My cardiologist didn't put any restrictions on me for exercise stuff following my AVR surgery. He's been happy with my efforts to maintain my exercise program. During a check-up about a year after my AVR surgery, he made a comment that he wished more of his patients would...

Recliner? Recliner? While my old recliner is really comfortable, sleeping in it post-op didn't work for me. The angle just wasn't right. I propped myself up at a comfortable angle with pillows on the sofa and slept there for a couple of months. Some of our members actually report that they...

Diet Concerns Diet Concerns As I've got older, I tend to be much more concerned about exercising some level of common sense about my diet because I want to eat healthier to avoid weight gain. This aspect of watching what I eat is much more important to me than my diet's affect on my INR. -Philip

Diet & INR? Diet & INR? Eat what you want and eat it when you want to. It's not that tough to adjust coumadin dosage to keep your INR where you need it to be. -Philip

Pacemaker Pacemaker It's pretty common practice to be attached to a pacemaker as the surgical procedure stuff is wrapped-up. In many cases, this practice is done to have everything in place in case it's needed. Having the pacemaker wires pulled post-op is one of those unpleasant and...

Marathon? Marathon? I think many of us have returned to the pursuit of the activities we enjoyed prior to surgery. The level at which you can compete will be influenced by factors like medication and age. As noted in a previous post the www.cardiacathletes.org website has many members who've...

Boxing Boxing I can't imagine that this kind of exercise would present any problems. I have friends who've returned to full contact martial arts after having valve replacement surgery. Full contact means sparring with an opponent who does hit back. One of these guys has had four heart...

Tired? Tired? Valve replacement surgery is a major trauma and it's normal to feel tired. Of course that's the reason getting a lot of rest after the surgery is advised. It's also important to make regular, reasonable exercise a part of the recovery process. -Philip

On-X Advantage On-X Advantage On-X does seem to have a definite advantage over many other mechanical valves because research indicates that its leaf design does less damage to red blood cells when the leaflets close. I considered the red blood cell damage issue prior to having my St. Jude...

Mystery Tube Mystery Tube Yeah, a conversation with your surgeon would be appropriate. It would be interesting to find out what it was and get an explanation for why it was stuck in your sinus cavity. -Philip

Nose Bleed Nose Bleed Hope your bleed has stopped by now. I had one that lasted six hours and others that have passed the five hour mark. A couple have required trips to the ER. I learned how to pack my own nose after enduring having one of those inflatable nose packing devices stuck in by ER...

Rehab Workouts Rehab Workouts Rehab workouts did little to relieve the pain I had under my left shoulder blade post-op. I started my rehab program when I was two weeks post-op and spent a lot of time during the first two weeks on a hand cycle. This said, I really enjoyed the time I spent in...

Back Pain Back Pain As others have noted, back pain issues are fairly common after AVR surgery. Having one's chest split and opened tends to put significant stress on ribs as well as the points where ribs are attached to the spine. Basically, these parts are stretched and flexed in directions...

Concerns? Concerns? Yeah, this kind of surgery is tough to wrap your head around when you haven't experienced much in the way of symptoms... been there done that. I've no doubt that most everyone here has faced all of the same concerns you are worried about... i.e. the breathing tube, chest...

Dosing Diet Dosing Diet As noted in a previous post, eat what you want and eat what you want whenever you want to. It's much easier to dose your diet rather than attempting to manage your dose with your diet. I don't recall you mentioning what your INR range is supposed to be. Mine tends to...

Graft Options Graft Options After a couple of lengthy discussions with my surgeon regarding valve choice and graft options, I opted for a St. Jude Master's Series with the factory attached dacron conduit. While doing the graft attachment on a valve's sewing cuff is a quick job for a good...