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Choices Choices I haven't paid much attention to the development of corevalves, but would suggest that you throughly research the technology before pursuing your choice. How long has corevalve technology been around, what kind of success rate, and how long do corevalves last? Personally, I...

Diet Diet It's really simple... eat what you want... when you want it... it's easier to dose your diet rather than trying to manage your INR with diet. -Philip

Phoenix Area Phoenix Area I moved to a community south of Phoenix in June, but haven't been concerned with finding any new doctors yet. I'm still using my cardiologist in Denver to get prescriptions. From what I've seen while cruising the area, it shouldn't be too hard to find a doctor or a...

Questions Hi Debra, Many of us prefer the term anticoagulants rather than blood thinners. Coumadin really doesn't "thin" one's blood. Of course, coumadin is referenced often as a blood thinner and you're in good company if you choose to refer to it as such. Success rates for valve...

Or Not! Or Not! I'm glad people have a choice about whether or not to get a flu shot. I've never worried about getting one and despite working in "germ factories" called schools, have never encountered any problems. Yeah, my school had a H1N1 outbreak last year, but I never got it. I'm sure...

Support? Support? As someone else already noted, everyone seems to have a different experience. Personally, I did just fine on my own without much help following surgery. I took five days off for surgery and my hospital stay, and returned to work half days the following week. Between my wife...

High Risk High Risk The downside to COBRA is high cost. I might be worth comparing rates... what you can get v. COBRA. -Philip

Inconvenience Inconvenience Yeah, injuries do seem to happen at inconvenient times. I broke my foot a couple of years ago just as ski season was beginning. I spent three months in a damn boot cast. I did try to get the doctor to just put my ski boot on my foot, but he wouldn't go for it...

Timing Timing My valve lasted over fifty years. It was still working okay when my 5.8 cm aortic aneuryism was discovered after twenty-seven years of avoiding doctors of all kinds. They took care of both issues in one trip. So you've got an potential issue that needs to be monitored, what's...

Strips Strips InRatio test strips are readily available from a multitude of medical supply companies. It's easy to find companies which will sell 12 packs if bulk (48) purchase isn't preferred. The best thing about bulk purchase is price; buying in bulk typically provides a cheaper price per...

Scar Scar I flashed the top of my scar to a collegue at a meeting in Phoenix today. She didn't believe that I had done the heart surgery thing. -Philip

Telling? Telling? Yeah, why not tell them now rather than waiting until later. The conversation can be done in the context of the realities of your present situation... monitoring & waiting until the time is right. Sure, family members may initially react differently when they hear about your...

Living the best you can Living the best you can All things said and done, I guess I'd rather focus my efforts on living my life the best I can rather than spending much time reflecting on when it'll be over. When it's done, it'll be done and worrying about my end won't make my life last one...

Bumps in the dark? Bumps in the dark? I had the vivid nightmares for months following surgery and had a bad bout with post-traumatic stress syndrome a few months following surgery. I really avoided meds that would make me sleep as I figured any kind of depressant would make me feel worse. I...

Trapped? Trapped? Yeah, when one gets the news that it's time for a replacement part or two, it's hard to avoid feeling trapped. As others have noted, there really aren't any bad choices if the choice one makes prolongs life. Personally, that trapped feeling eventually gave way to the...

Ethics Ethics Yeah, the techs aren't supposed to do anything but run the tests, but I've managed to squeeze information out of them from time to time. Prior to my surgery back in 2007, I made some comments to a tech about my aortic valve being just fine. He looked back at me and told me I...

Cardiac Rehab Cardiac Rehab My experience with cardiac rehab wasn't really the norm. My cardiologist dropped me in a program at two weeks post-op to slow me down. He felt I was recovering too quickly. The strength of the program for me was the monitoring it provided. It was pretty cool to...

Mended Hearts Mended Hearts I had a very positive experience with a Mended Hearts volunteer post-op. I planned to join the organization after retiring and moving to Arizona last June. Life being full of unplanned twists and turns, I found myself continuing my school administrator career as...

How Young? How Young? I'll be 55 in a week or so and I still get comments from people about me being too young and healthy to have had heart surgery. So, how old is too young? -Philip

Stairs Stairs Pulling with one's arms after having the sternum opened and then wired closed tends to generate a lot of pain. Using the handrail lightly for balance rather than pulling is good advice. Stairs will only present a minor obstical for a short time. It may be more work to move than...