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Yes, the major decade anniversaries are big events, worth a big celebration. Just passed 30 last July myself, but the Covid19 restrictions made it difficult to gather family and friends, so we did a few separate parties.

At the time of my AVR, I was probably ~190 lbs (86Kg) but many years later it rose to 250 (113Kg) and I still ran daily, only slowly. I did roughly 1000 miles per year (1600 Km) over 40 years when I had to stop. It wasn't the heart that stopped me. It was arthritis in the back. I still walk 3-4...

I was 43 when I had the AVR in 1991. Of course I did very little running the years prior and following OHS, but I was a runner for decades. So, I compared running times that I had 2 years before and 2 years after the surgery. Before the surgery I could run a mile in about 6 minutes and a 5K...

Yes, and next year you have to have a BIG celebration for #20. This forum is a great resource, not only for newbies and future AVRs, but also to those of us who have many years behind us. Yes, 19 years later there are still questions and there is usually someone here who has good info and advice.

I never lifted, i.e. no plates hanging on long bars. I was told at the age of 15 to avoid such things, and so I did. I was told to avoid running, but I didn't. I got into endurance workouts doing plenty of running, biking, swimming, and pushups. Tons of pushups. I regularly did at least 100 day...

Later this week, July 26, 1991, St Jude's aortic valve replacement. I had rheumatic fever twice as a child, ages 5 & 10 that damaged the valve. I was declared 4F for the military draft during the VietNam war. I had a minor stroke at age 39 from a random blood clot blamed on the leaky valve...

The first time I heard I'd need valve replacement was in the 1960s in my teens. Got the aortic valve replaced at 43 in 1991, 29 years ago. I was a runner, track, roads and trails, a shot putter for 25 yrs, swimmer and triathlete. Still am to some extent, just slow. I ran 150 races prior to AVR...

It's been so long I forgot all about the stitches. What I remember is the staples holding the breast bone together. One afternoon a nurse comes in with a pair of pliers, opens the shirt and says hold your breath. Yank, yank, yank! Oh yeah, and the scar is not a problem after a few months if you...

I've been in the game a long time, so I went every 3-4 weeks, unless it's out of range wherein I'd go back in 2 weeks. Coumadin, which I was on for 28 years, has been discontinued, so a change to another brand of blood thinner has led me to a 3 week cycle.

I too have made it far enough to see 4 graduate HS, then 4 graduate Col, then 4 get married, then give us 8 grandchildren. My problem was celebrating too much. By year 14 my weight had ballooned up to 250 lbs, whereas it had been as low as 175 prior to surgery. So year 14 was when I went to...

Not to mention how they would have probed ...

I like that his anniversary is in August, because mine is in July and everyone lauds me for a whole month for being around a long time. Then they see his duration and I become just a middle of the packer.

As Protimenow says, the cards did not have that info on them 28 years ago because MRI was not on the market yet. I was working at the GE Research Center at that time and did a lot of analytical software for the process as the machines were in development. The prototypes were tested in a building...

You should join this group. We've written two books and have many amazing stories of return to sports of all kinds including high level competition. https://cardiacathletes.com/

I was 43 when I got a St Jude's valve. I'll be 72 in January. I never had problems with thin blood except a couple times when I injured myself competing in track & field. I have run upwards of 500 events from 200 meters to half marathon, and threw shot put for decades. ONE TIME, I tore a calf...

I have NEVER been able to get life insurance, except where it came automatically with a job. I was able to convert one of the employer's policies when I left. That was $10k back in 1972. That is ALL I have. That is all my survivors will get. I made other savings plans a priority.

Beats my time. The last one I ran was about 3:10 at age 65, I think. They actually dismantled the finish line before I got in. The guy who had been in last place most of the way passed me at mile 11 when I started to walk, so they thought they were done when he came in.

Swim, swim, swim. It's all shoulders. You can go at any speed, it doesn't matter, a mile is a mile.

Way, way, way back in the early 90s when I had my valve replaced, I worked at the GE Research Center in Schenectady, NY. I was a software engineer in the lab which developed the first MRI machines. The original technology was called NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) but the marketing folks knew...

I ran between 1000-1500 miles a year prior to valve replacement and about 150 races between 1978 & 91 when I had the surgery. I never made it over 1200 miles per year after AVR, but finished another 350 races after 91. I never did get back to previous fitness levels but I was 43 and that's about...