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My journey through AVR started over 10 years ago now, in 2014, and was needed because of severe stenosis. I don't know why I haven't thought to post this sooner, but a search of past topics doesn't seem to suggest this has been discussed, so here goes, perhaps of interest to those in the waiting...

Just back from a two-week holiday/vacation in the sun (much needed after the long, grey days and rain of an English winter!), and just wanted to post about the freedom of self-testing having your own meter gives you. The change of diet and increase in alcohol consumption (cocktails by the pool...

Just a quick report of a procedure I had done on Monday, in case of interest to those few of us who got a pacemaker as a bonus with our mechanical valves. In 2014 my aortic valve was replaced with a mechanical, but there was a surgical complication and I needed a pacemaker too. It's never been...

I came across a Facebook post to this research by the Department of Cardiac Surgery, Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montreal, Quebec, Canada, published 31 March this year, which suggests better outcomes for a trial group of patients on a range of 1.5 - 2 when compared with the normal 2...

After reading a number of threads on here about the heart benefits of taking vitamin K2 I finally ordered some and started taking a daily capsule about 3 weeks ago. I am wondering if this is a coincidence, or due to other factors, but one thing I have noticed is that my bladder control seems to...

Knowing how important mouth hygiene is to help avoid endocarditis (as well as keeping my teeth!), I go to a dentist every 3 months or so for a cleaning, though of course that is not currently possible because dentists are closed due to the Coronavirus situation. I came across ultrasonic...

I thought time to start a fresh thread as the February one has got pretty long. After all the global concern about having enough ventilators available in hospitals, I have read several articles that suggest they may not be the best way to treat someone with Covid-19. The problem is claimed to...

I am currently on vacation somewhere warm and sunny, in what has become something of a set annual two week break from the long, grey skies of winter in London, and indeed currently escaping a "storm of the century" . Though of course our UK weather is pretty gentle compared with what a lot of...

May I wish you a happy and healthy 2020. We made it through 2019, and let's remember that many of us might not have been able to say that without our replaced or repaired valves.

I am not new to the forum, but am glad it is here and think it worth saying why I visit and make the occasional contribution. Despite a complication requiring a pacemaker to be inserted, I generally feel my aortic valve surgery 5 years ago (in September 2014 when I was age 48 and a lot) went...

This report in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper says that the "75 year old rock icon is set to have [a replacement valve] operation in a New York City hospital this week." Autograph hunters at the ready ....

Mine was fine in the morning, but this article claims that for some people with higher risks it might be better to have the op in the afternoon, owing to our body clocks: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-5022443/Afternoon-heart-surgery-50-successful.html

In case useful for those who don't have the option to self-test their INR when they want (and also because I wanted to know!) I thought I would share my experience today after forgetting to take my Warfarin dose for 13 hours. I a not quite sure how I managed to miss it - this is the first time...

I had a replacement mechanical aortic valve, following stenosis, almost three years ago, and whilst everything generally seemed to go well I was told that they damaged the electrics of my heart, and that "like 1 in 10 patients" I ended up needing a pacemaker, as my heart was not able to repair...

My Google alert threw up this news article today, and I thought I would share given that they seem to be specifically targeting mechanical valve users and promising "more stable and predictable INR levels", though I found a post on here from 2009 that didn't look any better than...