Bill's Posts

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the well wishes and prayers prior to and after the surgery. Three weeks ago I had my BAV replaced with a Bovine St. Jude Trifecta. Was a tough decision on which way to go, but in the end went natural for now. As a development engineer and materials science performance and testing planner/evaluator for multiple products and materials, I chose to hedge my bets on the new materials and design developments that will be introduced over the coming decade+. The advancements in valve science and technology combined with improved surgical techniques/procedures (reduced risks, etc) over the coming years, plus not being dependent yet on Coumadin, etc, all played a role in my decision. I share this because several persons have inquired to natural vs. mechanical at my age (45). So now it's recovery. I've been fighting terrible sleep! This is definitely throwing off my recovery I feel. I am definitely leaps and bounds ahead from three weeks ago, but still just feel "rough". Almost like a walking flu type of feeling. Just don't feel right. This is about 50-60% of the time. I still attribute most of my feeling to lack of sleep. I was never a 'back' sleeper so this surgery has it me hard. But my flexibility is excellent with daily stretching, walking is a comfortable 2+ miles a day, and the pain has decreased greatly. I see the cardiologist and surgeon on Friday this week and should have some early feedback of the procedure. I had the mini-Thoracotomy procedure and can say that it wasn't a walk in the park. Obviously doable, but I'll say that "minimally invasive" does not mean minimally painful. Lol. So in the end, I'm very curious from others.....A) how long before you started sleeping "normal"? B) Did you suffer any vertigo? (I've been fighting it periodically---have never had it prior), and C) Did you do Cardiac Rehab and when did you start? Thank you all again! Bill

Time to stop thinking about everything that I should have done further to prepare and realize that I am surrounded by great family and friends whom will fill in the blanks for anything I may have forgotten. Surgery is just a day away now. Couldn't ask for better support from everyone around me, including my office and coworkers. I'm just trying to settle down now and relax tomorrow in preparation for Wednesday. Might even sneak a movie in for some "me" time to just disengage for a couple hours. Excited for a life with proper blood flow, heartbeats, and energy! But honestly a little nervous in parallel. I'll be sure to post when I'm able to on the results and during the weeks following the surgery. Good luck to those having surgeries this week! And of course to those in the future and those now in the recovery phase!