Post TAVR journey of CoryP

[pellicle]

Folks

coryp has been in touch with me and reported the following. I'm sure it will be interesting to many. I'm not sure, but I think this may be a world first on a person of his health and age.

To me, this case will be of great interest to many.

(I've removed some of the more personal discussion points)

Here is the download;
did the tavr 2.5 hours, icu 24 hrs, was doing laps after 18 hours. Home 36 hours later......
echo showed that my ef went from 55% on the q last week to 70% and no leaks after tavr.
I pissed out 5000 cc of urine in first 18 hours and probably only took in 1500-2000.

So far so good, I feel great overall, pretty much back to normal

No pacemaker nothing, I've surpassed all the post surgical risk time frames they gave me so I think I'm in the clear.
Going on thur for cta to check for clots and he will probably put me on warfarin for 3 months for safety purposes.

Final test will be July 12th for echo, cta etc to make sure no leakage has occured....if not then the data says the valve should then last for its duration, whatever that might be...

So, hopefully coryp will update this with his progress as time goes by

 

[Lisa2]

Thanks for the update. I am interested and will stay tuned to follow Cory's progress.

 

[cldlhd]

First just want to say it's good to hear it went well and this is interesting. The valve in valve I assume is a one time deal but with that I would be concerned about flow restrictions but it's good to know it's becoming an option. Not to get all tinfoil hat but is there any possibility the insurance companies here in the U.S. and health services elsewhere are so big on TAVR because of lower cost?

 

[honeybunny]

Thanks for the update.

 

[FredW]

Thanks for the update. Sounds like a sucessful story.

 

[neil]

good news,

 

[PsyDanny]

First just want to say it's good to hear it went well and this is interesting. The valve in valve I assume is a one time deal but with that I would be concerned about flow restrictions but it's good to know it's becoming an option. Not to get all tinfoil hat but is there any possibility the insurance companies here in the U.S. and health services elsewhere are so big on TAVR because of lower cost?

Lowered cost might be a factor that is a positive both for insurance companies and patients.

But the short surgery, hospital stay, and apparent immediate health and vitality benefits are an obvious attraction to patients.

The only big issue is the following ".if not then the data says the valve should then last for its duration, whatever that might be... "

I am facing my first AVR on June 29th. I will be 58 in July. Just placed a call to my surgeon this week to ask his opinion on going with an Edwards (bovine) Magna Ease, or something in that series, with the idea of VIV TAVR with something like an Edwards Sapien XT if such is needed in the future. Hearing about the research being conducted on "intermediate risk" clients, as well as following CoryP, gives me a reasonable basis (in my own mind) to place my bets on these emerging technologies.

 

[cldlhd]

Lowered cost might be a factor that is a positive both for insurance companies and patients.

But the short surgery, hospital stay, and apparent immediate health and vitality benefits are an obvious attraction to patients.

The only big issue is the following ".if not then the data says the valve should then last for its duration, whatever that might be... "

I am facing my first AVR on June 29th. I will be 58 in July. Just placed a call to my surgeon this week to ask his opinion on going with an Edwards (bovine) Magna Ease, or something in that series, with the idea of VIV TAVR with something like an Edwards Sapien XT if such is needed in the future. Hearing about the research being conducted on "intermediate risk" clients, as well as following CoryP, gives me a reasonable basis (in my own mind) to place my bets on these emerging technologies.

I agree, to an extent, but as you say how long it lasts is the big question. I know these new tissues are supposed to last longer but to err on the side of caution what if it lasts 12 yrs so when you're 70 you get the valve in valve then in your 80's that fails? I know that's a ways off but my grandmother is 87 so it happens. As for the cost if my insurance company is paying I want the best treatment they'll pay for , I would rather which is cheaper not factor in. I understand the idea that in the end we're all paying bit to expect an individual to choose what they feel is the lesser of 2 options for "the greater good" is against human nature. As for recovery of course I would have preferred quicker but at 3 months I was restriction free and if my surgeon felt traditional ohs would give me a better long term result then 3 months goes pretty quick. All in all more options is a good thing though.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

Lowered cost might be a factor that is a positive both for insurance companies and patients..

If I recall properly it was something like a cost of $180K for the TAVI and $220K for the traditional. I could well have a 0 in the wrong place there because it was in a phone discussion and I was not writing things down, either way if its out by a factor of 10 then they both are, because what I do recall clearly that the TAVI was not half the price of a traditional OHS, and over a 10 year period would cost more. The TAVI was projected to last (for him) for about 5 years, in which time it would need a Valve In Valve (and then rerun all the risks of clots, misplacement ... yadda yadda).

After the Valve in Valve once reaches its service life (presumably 5 years, but obviously being a smaller diameter perhaps less) it will be traditional OHS to replace that and put in what you want next.

So the "bet" on saving money for the insurance company is a bet on you dying earlier (or their financial collapse / getting out of liability) as I do the numbers.

 

[vivekd]

WellStar Kennestone quoted me following prices for open heart aortic valve replacement procedure:

Original Cost $176000
After Aetna Discount $99000

 

[Twobike]

Pellicle, has there been any updates on Coryp? I might be going into a trial that will start very shortly. I hope I'm making the right choice.

 

[alpha 1]

Did you get onto the trials, going to look into it let me know

 

[alpha 1]

Let me know about the trials thanks