Jessica's Posts

Hey Jessica. Mike's advice is very good and spot on. I would add the blessing in your situation is that you have time to research and make the best decision possible for your procedure, surgeon and hospital. With aortic valves, there are several options for replacement procedures and I would tell you to research them all. Ross Procedure, Ozaki procedure, replacement with Bio-prosthetic, mechanical, TAVR. So many options and you have time to get second, third and 4th opinions from different surgeons. There is a wealth of information here and my advice would be to watch all of the videos regarding aortic valve surgeries. I was told my aortic valve AND aorta would have to be replaced "at some point in the next few years" in 2016. That gave me some time to prepare and research. I believe I made the best choice for me and I am 20 months in with my new bio-prosthetic valve. I feel very good and I am back to running and playing golf and tennis. I am working on getting my 5K time down to under 35 minutes. :-) There is a wonderful life on the other side of whatever procedure you eventually have. Will be praying for your journey. I am happy to answer questions.

Hi Jessica. I just had my aortic valve replaced two weeks ago. I also had symptoms come and go and wondered if it was anxiety as well but realized either way, I needed to have the surgery done at some point as they told me I had mild stenosis but moderate/severe regurgitation. I am two weeks out from my surgery. My recommendation would be to get as many surgeon opinions as you can. I met with 4 surgeons and the first three pretty much offered me a tissue replacement or mechanical replacement as the best options which I didn’t like. It wasn’t until my fourth opinion that he offered an aortic root replacement with a freestyle valve. Still a tissue valve but he expects 15-20 year lifespan out of it which definitely sounded like the best opinion since I didn’t want a mechanical at such a young age.

Hi Jessica, it's an amazing surgery and I love the attitude you have to get it done. It is such a highly successful surgery and it's attitude that makes the difference. I had my aortic valve replaced April 2019. It's been incredible. I often forget I'm a cardiac patient. I was doing well but very heavy lifting caused an extreme shortness of breath and palpitations (which elevated the anxiety). The doctor told me I had to get the surgery done within 4 weeks. That was shocking to hear although intuitively I knew that it was time. The surgery went great and I jumped right into doing my own rehab. Getting mentally prepared is key. I think you'll be surprised how little pain and discomfort there is following the surgery. I was one of the minority who had post op AFib for a few weeks. 6 days following surgery I was on the elliptical machine and today it feels like I never had a valve problem. I elected to get the mechanical valve and I'm still in amazement and gratitude how well this surgery works. It has raised the quality of life and reduced the stress of knowing that a surgery hung over my head. Your doctor probably is not going to rush you in to get it done unless it is medically necessary and that's such an awesome attitude to knock it out as soon as the doctor gives you the green light. My apology for being so wordy but I love this stuff. It was an unexpected positive experience with the outcome, the hospital and people who made it possible. Feel free if you have any specific questions I can offer my two cents on.