New Member wishes to say Thank You

[enkaynj]

Hi All,
I stumbled on to this site by sheer accident and within the last few days of browsing I feel so much more informed than I ever was over the past 2 years since I was told I needed to undergo an AVR.
I am scheduled for a July 6th,2011 op. at the Heart Center in Plano TX. and am a bit nervous as I get closer to the date.(Anyone had it done there ? ) I just hit 50 but am going with Bovine tissue valve after much debate (mostly with myself I just hope I made the right decision. I heard that very soon down the road there is a strong possibility of a percutaneous re-valving procedure being approved in the US which is what pushed me over the fence to go with a tissue valve.
I would just like to say "Hello" & "Thanks" to everyone for sharing their experiences on this forum, including photo-blogs.

 

[ARossGuy]

Enkaynj,
Welcome to the site. I am a NJ transplant here to TX and also plan to have my next OHS in September at the Heart Center in Plano. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the how well the facility/care there is but have heard good things. There is plenty of good info on this forum on valve selection, but bottom line there is no such thing as a bad choice. Once again, welcome.

 

[nngbwh]

Welcome aboard, Enkaynj. Wishing you a successful surgery and smooth recovery.

 

[enkaynj]

Dear ARossGuy.
Thank You. Hope you don't mind my asking but it looks like you are having two OHS's in a span of 7 years. Is that a normal thing to expect ? I would guess that your recovery from the first one must have gone well for you to go through another OHS in 7 years. Are you scared ? I wish you all the best.

 

[enkaynj]

Thank You Nelson. I have a friend whose son underwent a heart surgery for a very rare birth defect and Dr.Shekar was his surgeon. Nothing but praise from my friend and his family.

 

[ARossGuy]

enkaynj,
Two OHS within the span of 7 years is not the norm, however, there is no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to valve replacement. Reops can occur with both mechanical and tissue valves for a variety of reasons, but redos are not common after only 7 years. In my case, I opted for the Ross procedure and saw data that after 20 or so years, the re-op rate was about 15%. I just happen to be on the wrong side of the 15% side after 7 years! The other possible reason for the valve failure is that I originally had a bicusbid valve and there may be some higher incidences of RP failures due to connective tissue dissorder associated with Bicusbid valves (dilation of aortic root), however, research is continuing in this area.

As far as being scared, I am not. I was lucky the first time in that I did not have any complications and had a fast recovery (back to work in 6 weeks). I am hoping the second time around goes as smooth as the first.

I will admit I was scared the first time, but the more I learned about what to expect, the more at ease I was. I wish you the best with your upcoming OHS.

 

[Greg a]

enkaynj, a heart felt WELCOME to our OHS family glad you found the site read read and re-read there is a wealth of knowledge here for the future .....

Bob/tobagotwo has up dated a list of acronyms and short forms http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8494&d=1276042314

what to ask pre surgery http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...68-Pre-surgery-consultation-list-of-questions

what to take with you to the hospital http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?13283-what-to-take-to-the-hospital-a-checklist

Preparing the house for post surgical patients http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...Getting-Comfortable-Around-the-House&p=218802

These are from various forum stickies and there is plenty more to read as well


And Lynw recently added this PDF on what to expect post op
http://www.sts.org/documents/pdf/whattoexpect.pdf

You are booked on the VR calendar so we will all be there for you on July 6

 

[enkaynj]

Greg,
I see this as an opportunity to meet such nice folks who I would not have met but for this bump in the road. Thank you all once again.
I will be posting a few open questions to the forum in the days ahead. Thus far I have not found the need to post any new ones. This site is pretty comprehensive thanks to its members' generosity.

 

[enkaynj]

Arossguy,
You said you were back to work in 6 weeks. Did it involve driving ? Also, did you have a mini or full sternoctomy (Hope I spelled it right)?
Thanks

 

[ARossGuy]

I got the full sternotomy but got the OK to drive short local trips at 5 weeks. At 6 weeks I think the sternum is around 80% healed, and the danger of driving is airbag deployment. I was also pretty lucky in that I did not need any pain meds other than ibuprofen after hospital discharge. Just make sure you do your exercises during recovery to help you regain your mobility/flexibility for turning the steering wheel when you do get the OK:rolleyes2:.

 

[Eva]

Enkaynj,

Welcome aboard and good luck with your surgery.

The right decision is the decision that makes you feel at peace. Percutaneous procedure is already taking place thought mostly limited to those who cannot tolerate OHS. You may read about this procedure which took place in 2008 in Washington, DC: http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...-Story-on-Experimental-Heart-Valve-Procedure&

and here: http://cchealth.clevelandclinic.org/cover-story/mending-broken-hearts

:smile2:

 

[enkaynj]

Thank You Eva. that is very good info. Good to know that at the present time, percutaneous AVR re-valving is being done exclusively on original and tissue replacements. Now I am leaning even more strongly toward a tissue valve for my upcomig surgery eventhough I should be looking at mechanical replacemens per current conventional wisdom.