Clay's Posts

Happy 1 year to me! On January 12, 2015 around 5:30 pm, I woke up in Duke ICU with a new aortic valve, hemi-arch aortic root job, and a maze procedure to solve some occasional afib. Here's how things can be a year out. My follow up cardiac MRI to check the valve performance was A-OK. Surgeon Dr. Chad Hughes says come back in 2 years. I wore a Holter monitor a couple of days to see if the occasional fluttering I have is afib. It isn't...great. My electrophysiologist (...rhythm guy...Dr. James Daubert at Duke) says I'm having annoying PVCs which are common and benign. My resting heart rate (which was below 60 pre op) is still likely to be 80-110 at any time...for no real reason. It seems hyper-sensitive to everything...eating, exercise, lying down, hot shower, whatever. Daubert's PA says not dangerous and could be due to premature atrial contractions overriding the sinus node...etc...not dangerous...try some magnesium supplements...or metoprolol (to which I seem immune as with warfarin)...go live life. A fellow valver (who was kind enough to talk to me pre-op) just told me that a cardio regimin has helped his rate...as did Paul Rose in a response to my last post. So...I'm gonna try it. I've been back in the gym for 6 months now. I don't sling plates around like before...and I'm conscious of bearing down...but I think I'm making progress towards getting back to where I was. I'm not sure the medical community would entirely approve but I'm gonna live life (within reason...call for hours of operation). So that's me a year later...irritated by an occasionally rapid heart rate, trying to lean out to a studly sub 10% body fat...clean bill. I'm more empathetic, more grateful, working on patience, and still get choked up thinking how far I've come. The photo is before and after...almost to the hour, of me a year after surgery 01/12/15. I'd had vague plans to be kicked back on a beach somewhere warm for my anniversary. But keeping my routine of fighting the good fight...getting stronger...back to normal...seemed more appropriate. That's how it really is. A year ago I was on a table with my heart stopped and held in the hands of my surgeon and God. A year later I'm in the gym working off a recent dessert binge...I'm never gonna be an underwear model for Depends without discipline (damn you cake...I wish I could quit you). As I've said before, everybody's experience is different, but this thing all of us are going through doesn't have to be as bad as we sometimes anticipate. God is merciful and he hears our prayers for each other. So many people are supporting you. Trust that God and your doctors will handle what you cannot, concentrate on recovering at your own pace, and reach out. We're strong together.