I'm 13 days post-surgery. I knew I had a problem, but had been told for years not to worry about it. All of a sudden in April this year, the message changes to "replace the valve". It was a tough time for me and my dear wife, as we worked through all the emotions around this sudden change in our "plans".
We made it through the surgery and I'm on the mend. I won't lie that the surgery is easy, but I can tell you that the waiting and anticipation is worse. The recovery and my condition after a few days really surprised both of us. This is what my new friends on this board told me, but it can be hard to believe.
The valve choice is personal. Gather all the information that you can and tell the surgeon what type of valve that you want. I went mechanical, as I do not want to have a second surgery. I'm not that worried about the warfarin. There is some slim chance that by the time you need re-operation to replace a tissue valve, that percutaneous replacement might be an option. It's too risky now and only used for the very sick.
We made it through the surgery and I'm on the mend. I won't lie that the surgery is easy, but I can tell you that the waiting and anticipation is worse. The recovery and my condition after a few days really surprised both of us. This is what my new friends on this board told me, but it can be hard to believe.
The valve choice is personal. Gather all the information that you can and tell the surgeon what type of valve that you want. I went mechanical, as I do not want to have a second surgery. I'm not that worried about the warfarin. There is some slim chance that by the time you need re-operation to replace a tissue valve, that percutaneous replacement might be an option. It's too risky now and only used for the very sick.
