Hello from Maryland, St. Jude's bileaflet recipient

[Joseph]

Will save the dramatic story but received a mechanical valve in 1996 when I was 29 years old; Next week will be my 27th anniversary. Happened to stumble upon this forum and it looks like there are some other old-timers on here sharing their experiences and advice. Happy to answer questions for anyone facing pre-op anxiety or unsure of what it's like living with a replacement valve.

Had my ups and downs but obviously happy to be alive and have (tried) to make the most of my bonus time. Took a while to get used to the constant clicking but it's become a bit of a comfort over the years. Have a great family and medical team that have provided equilibrium with some of my bad habits. Self-check INR and other than warfarin I just take some supplements but no OTCs. Thanks to some long pauses I got a pacemaker this year so I've got that going for me.

Organic gardener, IT analyst, coffee geek, general nerd, was a home brewer until my cardiologist suggested I find a different hobby.

Happy to have a place to discuss cardiac health specific to those of us with these various medical miracles.

 

[pellicle]

Hi Joe and welcome

Organic gardener, IT analyst, coffee geek, general nerd, was a home brewer until my cardiologist suggested I find a different hobby.

Happy to have a place to discuss cardiac health specific to those of us with these various medical miracles.

its interesting how many of us found our way into desk jobs (perhaps because of our reduced strength and fitness?) and IT.

Lots of overlaps there, there is another Maryland person here of similar background (although later into "Club Valver").

Hopefully you'll find something here.

Best Wishes

 

[Chuck C]

Welcome to the forum Joseph.

Thanks for sharing your story and congratulations on your upcoming 27 year anniversary. I also have a St. Jude mechanical, put in about 30 months ago.

 

[dick0236]

Welcome !! Happy to have another longtimer on board......it gives the new folks some needed assurance.

 

[Timmay]

That’s awesome Joe!

Pretty sure pellicle was referring to me . I’m in Maryland and I got my valve last year in May.

 

[Superman]

its interesting how many of us found our way into desk jobs (perhaps because of our reduced strength and fitness?) and IT.

For those of us in the US, it’s for consistent employment and good benefits. A lot of blue collar and skilled trades tends to be somewhat volatile, and if you find yourself between jobs, insurance can get very expensive. Even worse if something happens during that time.

Desk jobs tend to be a little more predictable and offer better benefits overall.

I know tuition reimbursement, retirement plan, and health insurance were three of the main reasons I ended up in financial services.

 

[pellicle]

and if you find yourself between jobs, insurance can get very expensive

that's an interesting trap which doesn't exist here ... for a start health insurance is a private arrangement between me and the insurance company I pick. It is not tied to an employer. Nobody (employer) cares if I choose to have it or not nor who that insurer is. For instance mine was MBF (which was later swallowed by a larger international player).

After the former Prime Minister John Howard (spits on the ground) destroyed science research and Biochem wasn't a career fror anyone for a decade, I turned to contract work in Electronics and later Sound and Staging until starting degree #2 in search of better incomes (blue collar back then paid better than almost anything if you worked in construction (which I did for a while too).
I've always regarded the US system of "employer tied insurance" to be rather pernicious.

 

[pellicle]

May

yep May Be I was ;-)

 

[Joseph]

Hi Joe and welcome


its interesting how many of us found our way into desk jobs (perhaps because of our reduced strength and fitness?) and IT.

Lots of overlaps there, there is another Maryland person here of similar background (although later into "Club Valver").

Hopefully you'll find something here.

Best Wishes

I grew up enamored with technology, back when stone tablets were new, and got my first computer (a Commodore PET with the chiclet keyboard) when I was 13. So yeah, kind of in my blood after that. Made a successful career working with more serious hardware and now looking for something to keep me occupied in the next chapter (Act 3?) of my life. Obviously, try not to forget that I'm in bonus time which led me to these forums.

 

[Joseph]

That’s awesome Joe!

Pretty sure pellicle was referring to me . I’m in Maryland and I got my valve last year in May.

So a newbie, hope everything is working as expected

I'm in the hinterland of Southern Maryland south of Annapolis

 

[pellicle]

(a Commodore PET with the chiclet keyboard)

don't start me on modern laptop keyboards.

;-)

looking for something to keep me occupied in the next chapter (Act 3?)

I took early retirement, modern IT stuff isn't what it was, and after a gig of moving a bunch of legacy apps from PHP servers (with Oracle DB connectivity) over to Docker Containers (and upping PHP to 7 when the apps were variously 5.x because somebody was too fukken slack to allow various container PHP instances) was enough to make me see that we were not being totally directed by those who had no idea what even the TLA's meant.

Some suggestions
toys:
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2023/08/sr500.html
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2020/01/mercane-battery-reassembly-fixed.html

building:
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2022/01/two-sheds.html
I'm firmly into philosophy these days too ... Albert Camus, a bit of Nietzsche and some Jung.

He who dies with the most toys wins ;-)

 

[Timmay]

So a newbie, hope everything is working as expected

I'm in the hinterland of Southern Maryland south of Annapolis

I’m out in the Frederick-ish area

 

[TheGymGuy]

Welcome from another Marylander.

 

[pellicle]

I'd love to see a heat map of the world to see where we all are (no names be needed)