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I think you are trying to over-optimize the situation. I doubt you have precise enough information to fine-tune these steps. Every action has a risk associated with it. But you have to live your life, and make decisions, even if they have risks and consequences. E.g. waiting until 5.9 cm has...

It depends... What do you think would work for you? Or, what has pacified you in the past? It was helpful for me to meditate. Which seems more or less common, if people actually do it. It was useful to go on regular walks even before the surgery. Which I'd think should help, whether or not...

First, thanks for the reference to the Kaiser study. It's nice they compiled the data. I think your units are off here. The rate is 0.06-0.07 cm/year = 0.6-0.7 mm/year. I don't want to by "sticky" about the technicality. Only pointing this out because the rate might be fairly high. Did your...

Then... I don't know :) Your blood pressure looks good and stable. So the doctor must be thinking of a different cause of the light-headedness.

The doctor would know better what they meant :) In principle, it could be a way to raise the blood pressure. Although other physical exercises should do it too. Did you have low blood pressure? If the doctor specified any other exercise features or names ("pole standing"?) that may help as well.

It sounds like you had a recent surgery? (I'm not seeing this information in your post or bio.) My impression is that the rehab recommendation depends on the level of fitness and age. I didn't have it, but I was relatively young (early 50s). It's hard for me to be helpful here, since the...

The pacemaker is for increasing the heart pace. A certain percentage of patients (from memory, 7%) have too low pace. Which means less blood supply to the body, and it's own problems. So they implant the temporary pacemaker wires just in case if they need to be used, to take care of such...

Well, I was a bit ambivalent about it. Having fewer attachments is nice. But they were my tentacles! Yes. I also took an inspiration from seeing an older patient strolling in the corridor on her walk. Without any attachments. During times when I was still basically shuffling for a walk. It...

I hope that, as things get better day by day, the mood will lift. The surgery is a big "shake", and physique is really down after it. But the blood tests (and chest X-ray results) should be gradually getting better. The stamina should be improving, the range of motion increasing, etc. At first...

Thanks for sharing. Really glad things worked out (and that outgoing CT was ordered before the discharge!) - seems like this was a complicated case. Regarding reduced EF: IIRC, mine was not very reduced. However, I had a different surgery type (MVr). And the surgeon actually warned me ahead of...

That's the spirit! My first reaction to the suggestion to walk was "I don't think I can do that." 🤷‍♂️ In the end it was a good walk all right. Yep, the full suit of attachments (*). I remember it took 2 nurses to carry the jugs, roll the pole and control my unsteady walk. The neck thing was...

These are seriously funny!

Sounds really tough, actually. After the surgery I concluded that "in order to take care of a serious medical problem, it's better to be healthy to start with". Meaning that the outcome and experience is much better if the patient is in a decent physical shape and doesn't have comorbidities...

Thanks. That sounds very small. Like, 0.25 cm^2 or so. Two things: The above is your judgement and the conclusions. The doctor's approach might be different. I don't think the diagnosis is made solely on the basis of the genetic test. Because there are the disease incidences in the family...

Sounds like you are making progress and doing the right steps! Which is what? I have seen many pencil erasers, in all sorts of forms and sizes :) Did he actually say that? It's all digital data now, especially with CT. Maybe it would be useful to bring up Marfan question to the surgeon's...

Thanks for the report. The very fact that you wrote it in a detailed and coherent manner means you are not doing too badly! :) Everybody gains "water weight" apparently, that's normal for this type of surgery. The sleep should improve a lot when you get home. All the best!

It probably depends on the patient and situation. From memory, my usual monitoring echos were taking about 20 min. This is not a precise number. What I do remember with certainty, is that the last one before the surgery was definitely longer, about 40 min. The operator cryptically mentioned that...

I didn't use adjustable bed, but others have commented on this. I slept in my usual bed, and "only" crawled into the recliner after going bathroom at night. It was just easier to get to the recliner. It probably would be useful to plan for it at first. Depending on how well you do, going...

It's absolutely delightful! A bunch of "obvious" simple explanations turn out to be not quite valid.

Well, I have 3 pairs of glasses: for distance (driving), for computer use, and for reading. And this is with my native lenses, without any surgery. Seems not uncommon, actually. 🤷‍♂️