Linda's Posts

My surgeon, who was also awesome, did a similar procedure. My entire ascending aorta was replaced with Dacron. However my surgeon thought that the section that connected to the valve was too tight. So when he removed my natural valve, he then cut into the Dacron to make it wider. He patched it to keep it wide and then placed the 23MM Bovine Valve into the Dacron. This gave me a bigger/wider valve. He specifically did this so that when the Bovine valve is worn out, I can receive the TAVR procedure. He believes my new Bovine valve will last approx. 18 yrs. After 18 yrs, I can receive a new valve with the TAVR procedure. In the meantime, the 23MM valve is providing me with great blood flow.....amazing! I have never had a good valve, so it's incredible how great I have been feeling. Hope this is helpful.

Linda, imagine, I lost over 45 pounds of fluid!! Took a long time because I had kidney failure. But, some simple things I learned. Don't drink a great deal, limit your salt also, but don't go overboard, just limit. Also keep moving..moving encourages that fluid in your tissues to depart. And, keep an eye out for any extreme weight gain, you'd want to report that😄 Be patient, that last bit can be stubborn, but moving will help a lot. Best Regards❤️

I'm two weeks post op, mitral valve repair with full sternotomy. Before surgery, I diligently worked to try to lose about 10 lbs. in combination of diet and exercise, ended up losing 8 lbs. prior to surgery. During and right after surgery, I gained only about 4-6 lbs. and was taking lasix to shed the water weight while in the hospital. They sent me home with more lasix prescription which I'm almost done taking to continue shedding fluid for 10 more days. But I think despite taking these meds you should keep yourself properly hyrdrated, just go to the bathroom a lot. So I've gone back down to my pre-surgery weight of 192 lbs, plus lost another 6 lbs, so at 186 lbs I haven't weighed this light in ages. Given this, I think my goal of 180 or even 175 lbs is within reach once I start cardiac rehab and eating a healthy diet again. Plus I'm off of prescription pain meds now, ever since I got off them, I feel even better, my chest doesn't feel like it's been even split open, I just feel a little tightness as I guess the skin and bone are starting to meld back together, but no pain, and barely any if I cough. The healthy lub-dub of my heartbeat is music to my ears, no more of the wishy-washy leaky heartbeat. I could not be more pleased. I plan to go back to work in two weeks, which is about a month after surgery, given I get the clearance from the doc.