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M

Matt

Hi Folks,
It seems as though there is a new member signing up everyday and today seemed like a good day to start. Short story:contracted Reiter's syndrome or what is now called reactive arthritis at the age of 20. This usually burns through you in a couple of years. As others have mentioned if it was not for bad luck I would have none at all. In a very small percentage of Reiter's patients, there is AV scarring. Discovered it about 10 years ago, and all has been well, moderate leaking but consistent. This year,at 46 yrs old, on August 18 was told "things have changed" to severe leaking and more signs of leaking with the MV that is being overworked.
Am scheduled for AVR and possible MVR on 9/11/06.
Have been interested in following the conversation concerning valve types as my surgeon appears to be "old school". He is a firm believer in St Judes based on their track record and his experience.
Have enjoyed the site and all the information that everyone has contributed.
I am sure I will be talking via the site as the date nears.
Thanks
 
Hello Matt and welcome to the family.

I'm sure you've read and read about valve choices, so I won't bore you with repeat lectures. It's a highly personal decision and once you've made it, don't look back or second guess yourself. At your age, I agree with your Doc, but you and others may not.

Welcome aboard and if you need more info, ask away. ;)
 
Welcome Matt! You have come to the right place. It sounds like you have a pretty good bead on what you are going to do. This is a good place to ask questions that your surgeon didn't fully answer or that you didn't ask. It will give you more knowledge to go back to your surgeon with. Most of the surgeons are aware of these forums and know (and usually appreciate) that you are not coming into this blindfolded. So ask lots of questions here and with your surgeon until you are comfortable with the choices that you have decided upon. Anyway welcome and good luck on your upcoming surgery.
 
Welcome Matt! You've stepped into a world of information on valve replacement and please, take advantage of it. Do searches, read past posts, personal stories and anything you don't find, just ask and someone will be along shortly with advice and well wishes. Keep us updated on your upcoming surgery, Good Luck!
 
Welcome Matt!

As you can see by my signature I've had my St. Jude for about 15 years. And it has served me well. That being said, if I were faced with a replacement in the next 5 years or so, I would give the On-X serious consideration. Tissue would be in the running too, but I'd be waiting for longer "shelf life" :) I think in order to avoid another surgery. (BTW, I'm 47, so my "what ifs" are thinking of what I'd do in my 50's).

But that's just my thought process, not everyone's.
 
Hi matt,

Welcome to the VR community. There's as much information, support, and understanding here as you can handle.

Best wishes,
 
Welcome to this lovely group of caring people! Please feel free to ask any and all questions you have (best to start new threads and get everyone's attention) so that you can really feel confident and optimistic going into your surgery.

As far as the valve choice goes.... you will have a good strong feeling in your gut one of these days about which way to go. Just follow your gut and don't look back and you'll be fine!

Take it easy these next few weeks and take some time to smell the roses!

Marguerite
 
Welcome aboard! Since your new you can buy the first round, I'll take JD on the rocks with a splash of 7up. You will find tons and tons of info here and if you don't just ask and someone will come on to help you. BTW if it were me I would change the date of my surgery by 1 day, but then I am superstitous.
 
I have a St. Jude Mechanical valve in the Aortic position.

If I had it to do over, I'd give serious consideration to the On-X valve. You will find LOTS of discussion of this and other valve choices in the Valve Selection Forum.

'AL Capshaw'
 
who are your doctors?

who are your doctors?

Hey Matt,
Being in OC I am assuming you are probably going to St. Joes, is that right? I am wondering who your doctors are. Cardiologist and Cardio Thoracic Surgeon. I am asking this because the more time i spend on this site the more I see a huge difference between the doctors that do these types of surgeries every once in awhile as opposed to those who specialize in this area. Your surgeon should be someone who has done this over 300-400 times. I live in the Valencia area and chose to go to Cedars where I saw Dr. Siegel as my cardiologist and Dr. Trento as my cardio thoracic surgeon. I can't recommend them high enough. They were both phenomenal and I have had a smooth sailing recovery. If I were you before making all these decisions about valves i would make sure that the drs. I am seeing have mega experiance in valve replacement. Many cardiologist are more oriented to CAD. I have been told there are only 2 surgeons that come highly recommended in the Southern Cal area and they are Dr. Laks at UCLA and Dr. Trento at Cedars. I loved Cedars everyone was nice and it was clean and all the rooms are single rooms. There is a guy on this site Temp69 that went with Laks and he seemed very hapy with UCLA and Laks.

I ended up getting Dr. Trento and Dr. Siegels names from the Marfan Foundation. There was a question for awhile if I had Marfan (which it turned out I do not) and during that time I called the Marfan Foundation. They deal with very sick individuals that have valve and aorta problems along with many other problems. The point is that they are very particular of where they send people and they said that the only 2 places they recommend their patients to go are Cedars with the Drs. I mentioned and Stanford. That was for the whole state of California. My cardiologist was great in guiding my decisions about valves and the whole process. Their are a few other people on this site who use Dr. Siegel and we all sing his praises. If you ask me Cedars and Siegel etc. would be worth the drive for you.

Randy
 
Thanks for all the info.
Ozmerzy: Relative to S. CA. I am trying to stay in OC for the surgery. Cardio is Michael Gault at Saddleback and the surgeon is Richard Gates. Have heard his name numerous times as one of the best in OC. Specializes in pediatric valves but also does adults. His name came up as a "very good set of hands" as I am pushing strong to repair the MV instead of replacing as replacing the AV is a given. He is out of St Joes but both he and Gault are coming down to Mission Hospital in Laguna Niguel for the surgery.
You have given me lots of food for thought as far as possibly visiting LA to look at my options. Thanks again
 
Welcome Matt
I am sure you will find the support and answers that you need here..just ask away.. this place is Wonderful!

I was able to have my Mitral valve repaired (gortex and anul ring) so I am not too familiar with the valve selection and others here are much wiser than me in that dep. My surgeon had picked a mechanical back up for me in my case..but it was not needed.

btw.. Aug 18 is a great birthday:)
it is my son's who just turned 8 as well as my favorite uncle from Los Gatos!

again Welcome
 
Welcome! Matt, I have a St. Jude and have no complaints about it. It is not a new model but just the older one proven to hold up for many many years. I think if it ever has to be replaced it will be from the tissue around it or maybe a clot but the valve itself is built to last a lifetime.
 
Just a word on repair of a valve. You need a surgeon who does a whole lot of repairs to get the best chance of having one that lasts, so you will want to do some checking on the surgeon and his repair record. A repair doesn't always last and this is why you need someone who really knows what they are doing. If you weren't having your AV replaced, I'd recommend going with a surgeon who does repairs as their specialty. If the surgeon doesn't do a lot of repairs I'd tend to lean to replacement of the MV so you aren't having another surgery in 2-4 years.
 
As an OC resident that went to UCLA for surgery, I thought I might pipe in with what I was told. My Cardio strongly encouraged me to spend the extra time getting onto Laks' waiting list for my Mitral Repair. He is well known in the area as a repair specialist, and at the time of my surgery, claimed to have done well over 600 mitral repairs alone (not to mention valve replacements and transplants). He also talked to me extensively about the ON-X as a backup plan, so if you are interested in the ON-X for your Aortic, he would be a good bet.

Those are just my experiences. As others have mentioned, Trento has an extremely good reputation as well. I'm pretty sure you can't go wrong with either.
 
Thanks Mike.
I have a call into Dr.Laks office for a second opinion. Dr. Gates studied at UCLA and like Laks does both pediatrics and adults. From what you have said, Gates is not as progressive as Laks in valve selection. I will let you know what I find out.
 
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