hall
Well-known member
Glad to see you post. Wishing you anunevenful recovery!
I made it!
- Thread starter scotttnz
- Start date
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Tbone
Well-known member
Welcome back. I hope your recovery goes very smooth.
EireCara
Well-known member
Great to hear your over the mountain. Hope your recovery is amooth and boring..'-)
Montrealer
Well-known member
Going for a Guinness today.......I`ll think about you.
Congratulations! That is wonderful news! I hope that you have a great recovery & enjoy the rest of your life! 
scotttnz
Well-known member
Well, I am now almost 2 weeks post op. To tell you the truth I haven't felt at all like being around valvereplacement.com for the last week or so. I guess I just haven't really felt like sharing my experiences, but will do so now.
I met my surgeon (Indran Ramanathan) on the day before my operation, and my wife an I spent our 13th wedding anniversary discussing with him the options and waiting to get an urgent ct scan done to confirm if I needed the bentals proceedure as well as AVR. (Turns out that I didn't, although I didn't know that untill after the proceedure due to the late hour. Or maybe they told me, but have had to many drugs to remember)
We decided on the Medtronic Advantage valve, primarily because of the small size of my aortic root effectively ruling out my prefered On-X option. I was was worried about valve noise, and the surgeon felt that the Medtronic is quiter than the St Jude. I would have loved the luxury of meeting my surgeon weeks ahead of the operation, to come up with a list of questions, and go through everything in more detail, but I knew this man has a very high reputation (through someone I know on the cardiac care ward staff) and had confidence in him, even when he told me that due to complexity arrising from my previous AVR there was a chance (greater than 10%) that I wouldn't make it.
So that is why the initial operation took 8 hours.
In ICU I had excessive drainage from my chest drains, so they sent me back to theatre to open me up again and stop the bleeding.
Other than a brief period of atrial flutter about 4 days post op, recovery so far has been pretty smooth. Stangley I knew about the AF instantly and alerted the doctors, due to being able to hear the valve was no longer making it's regular tick, tick, tick. And then about 4 hours later, I knew exactly when it went back to normal, without having to look at the monitor screen. tick, tick, tick, tick.
About the ticking.......it was something I worried about pre-op (I am\was a light sleeper). And for the first week or so it kept me awake at night, but doesn't seem to any more. I can hear it clear as day, and not just in a quite room. I can't drown it out with my ipod, it's inside my head, always there. But I don't find it annoying, and I can't explain why (I really thought I would hate it! and I didn't think it would be this loud). At worst, it deminishes my enjoyment of music sometimes, but I think I can live with it.
I am progreesing well. Walking quite a lot. Sleeping OK. I do still stuggle with sleeping through the night, despite the best efforts of my doctor to drug me into a stupor (One of my friends has given me the nickname "the Pharmacist" and he is an anisthetics technician so is used to being around lots of drugs!) I still awaken at around 2am and can't get back to sleep. My body is just not used to sleeping all night on my back, and lying on my side or in other positions is not comfortable enough yet.
All in all I consider myself to be very lucky. I have survived, I am healing well, and I have the love and support of family and friends. My employer has also been extremely supportive, more than I would ever expect. So yes, I am lucky!
I met my surgeon (Indran Ramanathan) on the day before my operation, and my wife an I spent our 13th wedding anniversary discussing with him the options and waiting to get an urgent ct scan done to confirm if I needed the bentals proceedure as well as AVR. (Turns out that I didn't, although I didn't know that untill after the proceedure due to the late hour. Or maybe they told me, but have had to many drugs to remember)
We decided on the Medtronic Advantage valve, primarily because of the small size of my aortic root effectively ruling out my prefered On-X option. I was was worried about valve noise, and the surgeon felt that the Medtronic is quiter than the St Jude. I would have loved the luxury of meeting my surgeon weeks ahead of the operation, to come up with a list of questions, and go through everything in more detail, but I knew this man has a very high reputation (through someone I know on the cardiac care ward staff) and had confidence in him, even when he told me that due to complexity arrising from my previous AVR there was a chance (greater than 10%) that I wouldn't make it.
So that is why the initial operation took 8 hours.
In ICU I had excessive drainage from my chest drains, so they sent me back to theatre to open me up again and stop the bleeding.
Other than a brief period of atrial flutter about 4 days post op, recovery so far has been pretty smooth. Stangley I knew about the AF instantly and alerted the doctors, due to being able to hear the valve was no longer making it's regular tick, tick, tick. And then about 4 hours later, I knew exactly when it went back to normal, without having to look at the monitor screen. tick, tick, tick, tick.
About the ticking.......it was something I worried about pre-op (I am\was a light sleeper). And for the first week or so it kept me awake at night, but doesn't seem to any more. I can hear it clear as day, and not just in a quite room. I can't drown it out with my ipod, it's inside my head, always there. But I don't find it annoying, and I can't explain why (I really thought I would hate it! and I didn't think it would be this loud). At worst, it deminishes my enjoyment of music sometimes, but I think I can live with it.
I am progreesing well. Walking quite a lot. Sleeping OK. I do still stuggle with sleeping through the night, despite the best efforts of my doctor to drug me into a stupor (One of my friends has given me the nickname "the Pharmacist" and he is an anisthetics technician so is used to being around lots of drugs!) I still awaken at around 2am and can't get back to sleep. My body is just not used to sleeping all night on my back, and lying on my side or in other positions is not comfortable enough yet.
All in all I consider myself to be very lucky. I have survived, I am healing well, and I have the love and support of family and friends. My employer has also been extremely supportive, more than I would ever expect. So yes, I am lucky!
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ken taylor
Well-known member
I had my heart surgery 5 years ago . The bus will leave the hospital slowly. But the good news is at day four I felt much better . Walking as much as I could seemed to help . Good recouvery !!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for posting the blow by blow, Scott. Have a great recovery going forward.
Best,
Jim
Best,
Jim
BAVD John
Well-known member
Scott,
Congrats on making to the other side of the mountain. I'm just over 3 weeks post op myself from AVR. I feel a little bit better each day and I hope you will too. Good Luck to you.
Congrats on making to the other side of the mountain. I'm just over 3 weeks post op myself from AVR. I feel a little bit better each day and I hope you will too. Good Luck to you.
Lorimacm
Well-known member
Glad to see surgery went well. Prayers for a speedy recovery!!
Truck, Train, Plane? Nah, it was a meteor! Best wishes for full recovery. 8 hours is longer than it took for my AVR and aneurysm repair. Holy heck!
W
westie
great news
great news
.
hello scott
great to hear from you again and especially because it is all good news. i had the same experience of losing interest in vr.com for a while after surgery, sort of felt i had had it up to the eye balls.
how was your stay at the hospital? nurses, food, care etc?
was the hospital proactive in suggesting home testing for warfarin?
that really is the way to go.
good luck
great news
.
hello scott
great to hear from you again and especially because it is all good news. i had the same experience of losing interest in vr.com for a while after surgery, sort of felt i had had it up to the eye balls.
how was your stay at the hospital? nurses, food, care etc?
was the hospital proactive in suggesting home testing for warfarin?
that really is the way to go.
good luck
scotttnz
Well-known member
Hi Westie,
Yeah, the stay in hospital was OK, although I had a lot of problems with nausea and vomiting that took a while to get sorted.
They didn't really proactively push home testing, but I think Medtronic must have been doing a promotion or something, because my surgeon managed to get me a test machine for free. I'll discuss it with my gp, and look to get onto self testing once i'm comfortable with the whole thing.
Yeah, the stay in hospital was OK, although I had a lot of problems with nausea and vomiting that took a while to get sorted.
They didn't really proactively push home testing, but I think Medtronic must have been doing a promotion or something, because my surgeon managed to get me a test machine for free. I'll discuss it with my gp, and look to get onto self testing once i'm comfortable with the whole thing.
Good to hear you are doing well. It's good to hear.
I think you'll appreciate the home testing- not having to go to the lab daily/weekly/monthly...and not developing that pesky scar tissue that sometimes develpes sensitivity... Home testing is just as good if you do it right--and way more convenient for you!
I think you'll appreciate the home testing- not having to go to the lab daily/weekly/monthly...and not developing that pesky scar tissue that sometimes develpes sensitivity... Home testing is just as good if you do it right--and way more convenient for you!
W
westie
free = best!
free = best!
.
sorry to hear of your post op discomfort, i reckon nausea and vomiting post ohs was the last thing you needed.
a free home inr tester is a great deal, the surgeon has pulled a nz$850 rabbit out of the hat for you there. which tester are you getting.
personally i have found the big benefit of home testers, aside from avoiding needles, is that you can test weekly (and when ever else you fancy) and monitor your inr levels much more closely and make adjustments long before things spiral out of control. just about anything can happen over the normal 3 week cycle
free = best!
.
sorry to hear of your post op discomfort, i reckon nausea and vomiting post ohs was the last thing you needed.
a free home inr tester is a great deal, the surgeon has pulled a nz$850 rabbit out of the hat for you there. which tester are you getting.
personally i have found the big benefit of home testers, aside from avoiding needles, is that you can test weekly (and when ever else you fancy) and monitor your inr levels much more closely and make adjustments long before things spiral out of control. just about anything can happen over the normal 3 week cycle
scotttnz
Well-known member
Westie,
It's a CoaguChek XS. I haven't even opened the box yet. My surgeon said they are more like $300 now.
From what the surgeon said both St Jude and Medtronic are offering them to valve patients now. Perhaps On-x is taking too much of their market share? Didn't matter to me as my narrow aortic root wasn't ideal for an On-x. Ended up with a 21mm Medtronic.
I'm going to talk to my gp tomorrow about using it, as with the big contract changeover to labtest happening at the moment it can be hard to get timeley INR results, and my INR has dipped quite low over the weekend.
It's a CoaguChek XS. I haven't even opened the box yet. My surgeon said they are more like $300 now.
From what the surgeon said both St Jude and Medtronic are offering them to valve patients now. Perhaps On-x is taking too much of their market share? Didn't matter to me as my narrow aortic root wasn't ideal for an On-x. Ended up with a 21mm Medtronic.
I'm going to talk to my gp tomorrow about using it, as with the big contract changeover to labtest happening at the moment it can be hard to get timeley INR results, and my INR has dipped quite low over the weekend.
W
westie
bargain
bargain
.
hi scott
i think our usa members will be envious that kiwi valvers are getting handed free coaguceks as they leave the hospital! sure beats fighting the usa red tape battle.
and it is great the retail price has dropped from $825 to nz$ 300 for mugs like me who have to buy them.
yeah, seems lab test is a right screw up; big delays in inr results etc is bordering on criminal neglect. you should start self testing today; you will find the dr and his nurses a big help. our general practice had never seen a inr tester before, but they had no problems helping me beause the concept is the same as an insulin tester.
and a short term fix for labtest is to get a script from your gp and cross the harbour bridge to say browns bay where med lab are still operating as normal
really your doctor should be on the phone to labtests to rip the skins off their backs
bargain
.
hi scott
i think our usa members will be envious that kiwi valvers are getting handed free coaguceks as they leave the hospital! sure beats fighting the usa red tape battle.
and it is great the retail price has dropped from $825 to nz$ 300 for mugs like me who have to buy them.
yeah, seems lab test is a right screw up; big delays in inr results etc is bordering on criminal neglect. you should start self testing today; you will find the dr and his nurses a big help. our general practice had never seen a inr tester before, but they had no problems helping me beause the concept is the same as an insulin tester.
and a short term fix for labtest is to get a script from your gp and cross the harbour bridge to say browns bay where med lab are still operating as normal
really your doctor should be on the phone to labtests to rip the skins off their backs
scotttnz
Well-known member
I talked to my gp today about home testing. They already have 1 other patient doing it and are more than happy if I want to. They just said they like to get a "proper" test done about once every 3 months to match them up. The nurse was quite happy, and said the less she has todeal with Labtest the better because they are useless.
Interesting article in the herald today: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10592994
Interesting article in the herald today: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10592994
Bob in Colorado
Well-known member
Almost time for another update Scott. Keep us posted. I hope you are feeling better by now!
