Itasca Jim
New member
Hello Everyone!
What a great site. I read a ton of the articles prior to joining which helped me immensely during my recent surgery.
Today is the one week anniversary of having my aortic valve replaced (plus one bypass) at Mayo/ St. Mary's in Rochester, MN. I was admitted Thursday morning (12th) and released Monday morning (16th). I'm still a little sore in the chest but am feeling great. My cardiologist was Dr. Nishimura and the surgeon was Dr. Schaff.
I had open heart surgery in 1959 (when I was six) to correct a constricted aorta. The surgeons were Dr. Lillehei and Dr. Varco. I remember a lot about that experience even though I was was pretty young. And yes, I'm also one of those people with the scar across their back instead of chest.
My biscuspid aortic valve was in rough shape according to Dr. Nishimura. He said on a scale of one to four with four being the worst....it was a 4+. I did a stay in St. Mary's in Duluth prior to the valve replacement surgery. That was to stabilize me, open up the aortic valve with a balloon and hopefully get me to the point where I could be a surgical candidate. By all rights, I shouldn't be here.....very rough shape with that stenotic valve (heart, liver, and kidney failure with mass swelling of the extremities).
It's been a long haul...... Very, very happy to be here. As I said above, this is a great site, the stories are inspiring and they also gave me the inside straight on what to expect immediately after surgery (which really helped!).
I look forward to reading and learning more and sharing thoughts, experiences, and conversation with all of you. What a trememdous resource of information and help!
Take Care,
Itasca Jim
What a great site. I read a ton of the articles prior to joining which helped me immensely during my recent surgery.
Today is the one week anniversary of having my aortic valve replaced (plus one bypass) at Mayo/ St. Mary's in Rochester, MN. I was admitted Thursday morning (12th) and released Monday morning (16th). I'm still a little sore in the chest but am feeling great. My cardiologist was Dr. Nishimura and the surgeon was Dr. Schaff.
I had open heart surgery in 1959 (when I was six) to correct a constricted aorta. The surgeons were Dr. Lillehei and Dr. Varco. I remember a lot about that experience even though I was was pretty young. And yes, I'm also one of those people with the scar across their back instead of chest.
My biscuspid aortic valve was in rough shape according to Dr. Nishimura. He said on a scale of one to four with four being the worst....it was a 4+. I did a stay in St. Mary's in Duluth prior to the valve replacement surgery. That was to stabilize me, open up the aortic valve with a balloon and hopefully get me to the point where I could be a surgical candidate. By all rights, I shouldn't be here.....very rough shape with that stenotic valve (heart, liver, and kidney failure with mass swelling of the extremities).
It's been a long haul...... Very, very happy to be here. As I said above, this is a great site, the stories are inspiring and they also gave me the inside straight on what to expect immediately after surgery (which really helped!).
I look forward to reading and learning more and sharing thoughts, experiences, and conversation with all of you. What a trememdous resource of information and help!
Take Care,
Itasca Jim
