23 years and going strong

[SumoRunner]

July 26, 1991. St Jude's Mechanical aortic valve at Albany Medical Ctr. That's about 1/3 of my life now. We celebrated with wild black raspberry pie and ice cream. Didn't get out to run today because the grandson is staying over for the weekend, but I ran 8 miles yesterday and have been swimming up to 3/4 mile a few days a week.

If you want to read the details about me and 16 other "Cardiac Athletes", we have written a book about it, available in Paperback or Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/Cardiac-Athle...d=1406403869&sr=1-1&keywords=cardiac+athletes

 

[river-wear]

Happy anniversary, Jack! I'm glad to hear you are still going strong!

 

[dick0236]

Congratulations Jack. I looked at your profile and noticed the rheumatic fever at 5. I had scarlet fever/rheumatic fever at that same age which most doctors feel caused my aortic valve stenosis. You should get many more years out of the valve, especially if you continue running 8 miles on a regular basis.

 

[Cooker]

Happy valvasary Jack. Wishing many more!

 

[DebbyA]

Happy Anniversary! Wishing you and your valve many more active years.

 

[Duffey]

Happy Valversary, Jack!

 

[Mike59]

Great news very well done

 

[sunshine2cats]

fabulous,, congrats,,,maybe i will feel like this sometime soon....am back after 10 days of no fun. i would love the thought of getting that many years out of this hard stuff right now....hello everyone...tis sunshine Ruth

 

[joanpieroni]

It's nice to see your post I was seriously getting ready to call the hospital looking for you!!! Today is my 4 month anniversary, I hope you feel better soon! I would still like to visit.

 

[mknuppel]

Outstanding! Congratulations! Wishing you many more...

 

[SumoRunner]

Outstanding! Congratulations! Wishing you many more...

I've got a long way to go to catch pioneers like Dick, but I'm game.

 

[epstns]

Gee, Jack, in some parts of the country, if you're game, you get shot at! By all means, be careful, but congratulations on all those years.

May you have a lot more, too!

 

[njean]

Congratulations on your 23rd and here's wishing you many more!

Stay well!

 

[njean]

fabulous,, congrats,,,maybe i will feel like this sometime soon....am back after 10 days of no fun. i would love the thought of getting that many years out of this hard stuff right now....hello everyone...tis sunshine Ruth

Give yourself time, Ruth! One of these days, you too will look back and say, "hey, I feel great, now let's get on with it!"

 

[SumoRunner]

fabulous,, congrats,,,maybe i will feel like this sometime soon....am back after 10 days of no fun. i would love the thought of getting that many years out of this hard stuff right now....hello everyone...tis sunshine Ruth

Take the long view. 22.5 of those 23 years have been fun. The first 6 mos of recovery were difficult, but now it's faded into the long dim past. In retrospect, I lost more time from athletics to foot and ankle injuries over the years.

Last weekend a couple friends were over and the 11 year old daughter was aghast when she heard the valve ticking from several feet away. I didn't know at first what she was talking about because it has been years since I could hear it tick. My brain has completely filtered it out. My brain has also filtered out any concerns about it too.

 

[ottagal]

Wonderful news! It is very encouraging to read about how active you have remained since your surgery. Wishing you continued good health.

 

[T in YVR]

Good for you Jack! Keep on ticking/runnin'

 

[JAMES W]

WTG Jack.....Happy 23rd Re-Birthday...Many, many, more ...!

 

[ManiSham]

Many more years to go its been eight years for me, hope I have a success story as yours to share in years to come. Keep running!