Aortic valve repair or replacement, early 2020

[johnmarkos]

Just got my chest tube out — might go home tomorrow.

 

[PAN]

How is your INR ?

 

[johnmarkos]

1.5 and rising. The surgeon recommends eating foods containing vitamin K while in the hospital and getting it checked daily, so I had some broccoli yesterday.

How is your INR ?

 

[KSS]

Wow! Sounds like you are doing great! That’s wonderful!
How are you feeling? How’s your pain?

 

[johnmarkos]

Not bad. Shoulder hurts, and I've been icing it, but for pain meds, I'm taking nothing more than Acetaminophen, because all the opioid pain meds make me feel yucky. They say it will get better now that the chest tube is out.

Wow! Sounds like you are doing great! That’s wonderful!
How are you feeling? How’s your pain?

 

[Superman]

Four days total? It’ll be good to get to comfortable surroundings. Hope all continues to progress well. Keep walking.

 

[johnmarkos]

On a walk around my hospital floor this morning.

 

[johnmarkos]

A friend of mine says the St. Jude Regent looks like the air vents on her '92 Mazda.

 

[Agian]

A friend of mine says the St. Jude Regent looks like the air vents on her '92 Mazda.

Nonsense

 

[johnmarkos]

I may not get to leave the hospital today after all. We will see. My INR is only 1.6 and they want me at at least 2.0.

I’m bummed because I get bad insomnia at the hospital. Also, it’s my Mom’s birthday— she’s in town to help out with my recovery, and it would be really nice to be released on her birthday. Time to read the Stoics, amirite?

 

[Catie]

Hardly anyone can sleep at the hospital. Cat naps... Sorry you need to stay a bit longer but hopefully you can make your escape soon. Glad you're doing well!

 

[johnmarkos]

I have a bit of post-surgery sinus tachycardia, and they have me on Carvedilol. Pre-surgery, my resting heart rate was in the high 50s and today it’s around 90. I can walk at a reasonably brisk pace, nevertheless, without much exertion. I was on the verge of a jog, and my heart rate only got up to 116.

 

[johnmarkos]

Apparently I'm going home today after all! INR is still only 1.6, but the doctors think four doses of Warfarin hasn't been enough time to get it to 2.0. BTW, the discussion of INR in Valve Decision For 44-year old who loves beer is truly fascinating. I need to have a conversation with the surgeon and my cardiologist and get more info from them about INR targets. Apparently, the target is 1.7 to 2.5, which seems low to me, according to the charts and discussion in the thread.

 

[Agian]

The problem with 1.7 is the margin of error. 1.7 may really be 1.4... ya know the rest.

 

[pellicle]

A friend of mine says the St. Jude Regent looks like the air vents on her '92 Mazda.

I'm not sure if you showed her yours, or a sample ;-)

 

[Catie]

Home!! Love hearing that. Hope the tachy resolves soon.

 

[uncle_boko]

What a fascinating story, I had mitral & tricuspid valve repair + Cox Maze procedure 4 weeks ago. Like you very little pain, although I had minimally invasive. In the past couple of days I had a big problem with itching on my hands, groin and under compression socks. I spoke to the cardiac nurse specialist, who suspected the culprit was omeprazol - confirmed by my surgeon who told me to stop it and take antihistamine - problem solved!

I also have intermittent shoulder pain.

 

[johnmarkos]

Congratulations on your surgery and best wishes for your recovery!

I've mostly been feeling really great for the past three years, except for occasional AFib. I had a couple AFib episodes early this year, after which I cut out alcohol completely – I had only been drinking a little bit, but if cutting it out works, I'll be thrilled.