Hi
I guess "welcome aboard" and glad make your acquaintaince.
cpj123;n856299 said:
... My wife and I were ready to battle it out over the mechanical valve.
does this mean that you differ in view as to which is preferable?
you may have already read my blog post
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/01/heart-valve-information-for-choices.html
I encourage you to read it carefully and follow up some of the articles referenced in it, in particular the presentation from the fellow at the mayo is a good start. The important thing to remember is this: read to learn, read with questions in your mind. Don't just read to gather opinions.
My opinion is mine and was formed on my experience. Your experience will be different, which is why you need to form your opinion with reference to yourself.
Some 'perspectives' to keep in mind.
I believe that in life we have changes. Some our own choice, others are forced upon us. For instance, how long have humans been having kids? Yet still despite all that historical experience still people find "I never expected it would be like this"
In truth life goes on and we adapt to changes. We are never dealing with things as we started (life is not the same at 12 as at 21 or at 51) and while we may occasionally wonder about going back noone has and noone can. So I say embrace change not hate it. Learn to adapt and change. I know that for me when I faced my last choice I did not want to be taking medication (warfarin) every day - because that was a landmark change in my life, a concrete sign of aging that I did not wish to embrace. However the logical benefits of me having a mechanical were too clear to ignore so I chose the obvious. As it turns out for me being on warfarin has been helpful in that it has had the side effect of me paying attention to my self more. I have learned much.
Well he right away said he would not want one either
I'm willing to bet he wouldn't want any valve either ... easy to say when you're not making the choice *for yourself*
I am sure by now (from your writing it seems) you have read an amount here. The choices are basic:
tissue prosthetic = a certain redo in the future (unless you die earlier) ; gradual decline of the valve with the last year or two of the the valve life being similar to your experiences with valve dysfunction now
mechanical prosthetic = significantly high likelyhood you will need no further surgery (but aneurysms may change that as I found) : requirement that you are on warfarin for the remainder of your life.
To me (as to many others here) being on warfarin has been "no big deal" and (for me) has been a beneficial education in taking control over my situation.
Read around, inform yourself and form your own opinion on the information you find. In your search for information I urge you to ask questions about what you read and to always check the veracity of the information (veracity: verifiability, trustworthiness, correctness)
Best Wishes