A
Alan B
I had my surgery at the end of May (AVR and a single CAB) which - as many of you will know on this site - had some complications afterwards - some issues with my breathing but mostly a Pericardial Effusion which required a second surgery, resulting in three weeks in hospital.
It was a difficult time in the hospital, mostly because of the Effusion which took a while to get sorted, but getting home helped a lot. I still think about all the night sin hospital not being able to sleep even for a minute but as soon as I got home I started to make good progress. It started with a single lap around the garden, but now, six months on, I'm back to leading a normal life - and feel better than before the operation. I'm back to hill walking and church bell ringing. The rehabilitation course and the rowing machine in particular was helpful in giving me back my confidence.
I still feel some muscular pain around the chest area - but I guess this is pretty normal from what I've read here from others. I have an excellent cardiologist at Oxford - Prof. Harald Becher - who is taking me off Warfarin shortly (I've been on as a precaution following surgery) and have not had any issues at all with Warfarin (I was nervous initially - about quite a few things!). I had a bit of a hit on by-pass but feel fine now and everything is back to normal.
This site has been a brilliant resource to me - from the first stages around valve choice (I'm 62 so was weighing up mechanical vs tissue) through to the surgery and recovery itself. In the end, after doing the research myself - my surgeon told me the valve he planned to use - based on his experience - but my own knowledge from this site gave me confidence that it was the right choice for me.
As for future options and developments - I'm hoping to get the most out of the valve, but the science seems to develop so quickly here and who knows what they will be offering down the line.
Thanks very much to all who gave me and my family advice and support through the difficult stages. Things don't happen overnight and you've just got to relax and go with the flow. My experience was that things often come right in the end, but at the time progress seems slow. However, looking back over the last six months - a lot has happended but I've come a long way and feeling back to normal.
It was a difficult time in the hospital, mostly because of the Effusion which took a while to get sorted, but getting home helped a lot. I still think about all the night sin hospital not being able to sleep even for a minute but as soon as I got home I started to make good progress. It started with a single lap around the garden, but now, six months on, I'm back to leading a normal life - and feel better than before the operation. I'm back to hill walking and church bell ringing. The rehabilitation course and the rowing machine in particular was helpful in giving me back my confidence.
I still feel some muscular pain around the chest area - but I guess this is pretty normal from what I've read here from others. I have an excellent cardiologist at Oxford - Prof. Harald Becher - who is taking me off Warfarin shortly (I've been on as a precaution following surgery) and have not had any issues at all with Warfarin (I was nervous initially - about quite a few things!). I had a bit of a hit on by-pass but feel fine now and everything is back to normal.
This site has been a brilliant resource to me - from the first stages around valve choice (I'm 62 so was weighing up mechanical vs tissue) through to the surgery and recovery itself. In the end, after doing the research myself - my surgeon told me the valve he planned to use - based on his experience - but my own knowledge from this site gave me confidence that it was the right choice for me.
As for future options and developments - I'm hoping to get the most out of the valve, but the science seems to develop so quickly here and who knows what they will be offering down the line.
Thanks very much to all who gave me and my family advice and support through the difficult stages. Things don't happen overnight and you've just got to relax and go with the flow. My experience was that things often come right in the end, but at the time progress seems slow. However, looking back over the last six months - a lot has happended but I've come a long way and feeling back to normal.
