Anyone ask to have their old valve saved?

[Wade]

My son really wants to see it, and I'm pretty curious myself.
Has anyone here requested that their old valve be saved for them? Wondering if they'd even do it?

 

[ChouDoufu]

doctor brought a petri dish with the remains of my valve to me in icu. 7 little silvery-grey
chunks resembling fish scales. i asked him before op if he could save it for me. he said
he could, but at least part had to go in for biopsy. before i was thinking if it came
out in one piece i could have it put in glass for a really cool paperweight.

when i was eight, they gave me my tonsils in a little jar of formaldehyde to take home.
don't remember whatever happened to them.

 

[Lynlw]

Justin has his old Pacemaker (he says when he meets a special lady he will say I want to give you my heart and hand her the pacer) He asked about his old conduit before his last surgery, but the wanted it since it didn't last long.

 

[njean]

Here is my 1975, Cooley-Cutter Mechanical Valve that my doctors replaced with a St. Jude in 2006.

My husband just kiddingly asked my surgeon if I could have my old valve back & he said, "don't see why not" and they gave it to us after pathology was done with it.

It resides in this jar in my medicine cabinet.

View attachment 6740

 

[ALCapshaw2]

One of our Lady Members posted a picture of her valve in a Glass Jar sitting in a cabinet in her kitchen (I think I got the details right... too bad I don't remember her Name!)

I'm thinking a (very) few others may also have their original valves.

A L-O-N-G Time Ago, another member posted a picture of his failed 'Ball-in-Cage' Valve with a Long Open Crack in the Ball. It was removed because the valve was throwing Clots.

'Al Capshaw'

 

[njean]

One of our Lady Members posted a picture of her valve in a Glass Jar sitting in a cabinet in her kitchen (I think I got the details right... too bad I don't remember her Name!)

I'm thinking a (very) few others may also have their original valves.

A L-O-N-G Time Ago, another member posted a picture of his failed 'Ball-in-Cage' Valve with a Long Open Crack in the Ball. It was removed because the valve was throwing Clots.

'Al Capshaw'

That lady was me Al & the picture of it, is just above your post!

 

[Bridgette]

Not long after I got home from hospital (only a week or two) I got a letter from the lab saying they had my native mitral valve there and did I want it returned to me?

I didn't get it back in the end but sometimes I wish I had.

Bridgette

 

[tobagotwo]

Unfortunately, in New Jersey and many other states, the law doesn't allow you to take any tissue home. I really wanted mine, but they just couldn't do it for me.

Best wishes,

 

[Snoopy]

Hey Wade,

Yep, sure did. When we met with my surgeon, once we got all the major questions out of the way, I told him I had one more question that he might think strange. He said, "What is it, I've pretty much heard it all." I then asked about saving the old valve since I had seen pictures on the Internet and was curious just what mine really looked like.

He said not only sure, but that he routinely takes it with him when he sees the family right after surgery so he can show it to them. He said he would put it in a jar and save it for me. Then he said not only would he do that, but he wears a camera on his head gear and would be glad to film the whole thing as well if I liked, just to remind him the morning of the surgery. So, there you go! We are in Virginia, having the surgery done at the Sentara Heart Hospital in Norfolk.

Randy

 

[Karlynn]

I asked my surgeon to save my valve so I could send it to the doctor who told me my symptoms were all in my head and prescribed Valium. There was no valve to save - it was basically gone.

 

[Eva]

My valves were sent to the lab...my surgeon took very good photos and showed them to us.

 

[Bina]

My valve was also sent to pathology.....on the report it stated that it came out in 2 pieces. I'm sure there wasn't much left to see.

 

[Nancy]

Several cultures want all the body parts that are removed or fall out or off (like baby teeth) to stay with the person they came from.

Even when my little dog had to have 2 tiny teeth pulled, the vet brought them into the exam room and asked me if I wanted them. He said that many people took them home with them.

So, unless the valve falls apart, or there are laws in your state, I would guess your request would be taken into consideration.

In Victorian times, mourning jewelry was made out of the hair of the deceased, like brooches etc. Or the hair was put into a locket.

 

[njean]

I had to smile when I read this Nancy because I asked my DH, NOT to go bury me with my old valve in a jar, please!!!

 

[geebee]

There wasn't much left of my "birth" valve so I do not have that. However, I do have the Bjork-Shiley valve that was replaced in 1994 with my St. Jude. It resides in a jar similar to NJ's. It had to visit the pathology lab but we got it after.

An interesting story: while I was being closed, my surgeon brought the B-S valve out to my SO to show how it was sticking (due to scar tissue and possible strut fracture). I am so sorry I missed a bunch of family members sitting in a surgical waiting room, playing with a valve that had just been removed from me. Thinking of it still makes me smile.

 

[Marguerite53]

You know, my husband cringed at the thought, so I just let it go and never asked. Later, what I did want after I read in my bill that it cost about $150 was the saw blade that sliced my sternum in half . I think that would've been a lot of fun to have around the house!

Marguerite

 

[Bina]

Marguerite, doesn't your hubby have an old saw blade that you can hang up in the living room? LOL

 

[Roger Frank]

I did and they didn't. Too much trouble for the surgeon to mess with it...

 

[njean]

You know, my husband cringed at the thought, so I just let it go and never asked. Later, what I did want after I read in my bill that it cost about $150 was the saw blade that sliced my sternum in half . I think that would've been a lot of fun to have around the house!

Marguerite

Yikes! Marguerite -- You know how home owners will have signs that read, "Guard Dog on Premises", etc. to deter robbers or trespassers?

You could have one that reads, "Beware --- I have the saw blade they used to cut me open!" (you may not have any trick -or-treaters come around either! LOL!!

 

[olefin]

I asked the surgeon for mine but he said by the time he got it out it would be in small pieces. Said I wouldn't be able to recognize it.