No one seems to talk about .....

[Der Biermeister]

what the after effects of AVR really are!

If you had tremendous SOB before ..... did it totally go away?
Could you tell immediately?

Did your BP improve?

Did you get off BP meds?

Thanks
DB

 

[Nancy]

Joe felt really great after his AVR in 1977 and stayed that way for about 20 years when his mitral started talking to him.

He has never had an issue with high BP.

He wasn't SOB after that surgery either.

His AVR is still there and doing OK from last caths.

 

[Granbonny]

Db

Db

I was age 62 when I had my surgery.. I had no symptoms.....other than age wise....Was very active helping raise a now age 13 year old Grandson...I don't think you will have any immediately relief until at 6 weeks post-op..due to being weak from surgery.. sorry, cannot help out more. Weekends are slow..sure other will post soon..bonnie

 

[Georgia]

If your sob is due to congestive heart failure from the malfunctioning valve, as mine was, it'll be gone (I had a lot of heart enlargement and I still didn't have trouble as soon as surgery was over). It's quite amazing. I still feel that I'm short of breath when I begin to exercise - doc said it's because the mechanical valve doesn't function quite like a natural valve - it has to catch up with you. After a while the feeling goes away entirely. I've gotten used to it - but it worried me until I discussed it with the cardio. Now, the longer I walk the better I do.

I really noticed it when hiking at high altitudes - it took nearly a half hour to walk without laboring at 8500 feet. After that I could walk all day. It seems backward, but that's how it works for me.

 

[Ross]

In my case, no, the shortness of breath became worse and I'm now on oxygen for life. I have a lung disease on top of all the other problems.

My blood pressure did improve but still needs the kick and help of medication to stay in line. We changed things around and added a Beta Blocker to the routine and now I'm a happy 110/70 most all the time.