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woodworker5280
Well, I cant believe it but it's been 4 months since my surgery! It all seems like a bit of a dream really, as it's gone by so fast, and a lot of it seems fuzzy. I'm glad to say that I've had no setbacks to speak of, other than some normal PVC's (which seem to have diminished since I went up to 100mg from 75mg on my Atenolol). I had my first elevated INR the other day at 4.1 (range is 2.5-3.5) so my Coumadin nurse dropped the two extra 2.5's I was taking on Monday and Friday (so now just 5mg every day).
It's amazing how fast the recovery went. I remember being told that I would be surprised, but I didnt believe it. The first month was certainly a struggle, not being able to do a lot of normal things for myself wasn't cool. The pain sucked for about 3 weeks, but that too went away abruptly. My anxiety and racing heart rate have both all but vanished (well, ok, i've always been a LITTLE anxious), and if I couldn't hear the valve clicking or see my scar every day, I wouldnt even know I'd had the surgery. I'm so glad I'm on the "other side of the mountain", but I'd do it again in a heartbeat (wacka wacka!) as it all seems to have been worth it.
I really feel blessed to have had this procedure. 50 years ago I might've been dead without even having known about my BAV, so it's pretty amazing to think that in the course of 4 months I've had open heart surgery and have recovered back to totally normal. I have always appreciated life, but now more so knowing that I'm on a "second chance".
Thanks for being out there, even though I'm not here too much it's nice to know there's folks listening whenever I have something to share.
With that said, I wanted to tell you all that I lost a friend last night in a drunk driving accident. It's tragic, terrible, heart-wrenching, and makes me wanna scream. Just wanted to get it off my chest.
aaron
It's amazing how fast the recovery went. I remember being told that I would be surprised, but I didnt believe it. The first month was certainly a struggle, not being able to do a lot of normal things for myself wasn't cool. The pain sucked for about 3 weeks, but that too went away abruptly. My anxiety and racing heart rate have both all but vanished (well, ok, i've always been a LITTLE anxious), and if I couldn't hear the valve clicking or see my scar every day, I wouldnt even know I'd had the surgery. I'm so glad I'm on the "other side of the mountain", but I'd do it again in a heartbeat (wacka wacka!) as it all seems to have been worth it.
I really feel blessed to have had this procedure. 50 years ago I might've been dead without even having known about my BAV, so it's pretty amazing to think that in the course of 4 months I've had open heart surgery and have recovered back to totally normal. I have always appreciated life, but now more so knowing that I'm on a "second chance".
Thanks for being out there, even though I'm not here too much it's nice to know there's folks listening whenever I have something to share.
With that said, I wanted to tell you all that I lost a friend last night in a drunk driving accident. It's tragic, terrible, heart-wrenching, and makes me wanna scream. Just wanted to get it off my chest.
aaron
