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Diagnosis: Aortic Stenosis, Bicuspid Aortic Valve

Member Since: January 30, 2020

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Mary Jewett posted an update

6 years ago (February 22, 2020)

care after 24 hours. Today was post op day three. I wonâ€™t lie itâ€™s been rough pain wise and before my surgery I really struggled with which valve to go with, tissue or mechanical. In the end I went with the On-X valve and my decision was based partly on the fact that my 25 year old son will be going through the exact same surgery, in the not to distant but yet to be determined future. I will write more on that later but will say he underwent emergency brain surgery in mid-December and we were told he most likely would not make it through that surgery. Well miraculously he did but they also diagnosed him with a bicuspid aortic valve at that time. Luckily my daughter has been checked and does not have this condition, however, my sister and her four children are now on wait lists for Echocardiograms to see if any of them have it. Long story short my son got an infection in his heart and ended up with a vegetative mass on his bicuspid valve which damaged the valve and he now has moderate to severe aortic regurgitation. He saw a cardiac surgeon at the end of January who he will see again in six months. At this point they want to put as much time as possible between the craniotomy he just had and a heart surgery. Yes itâ€™s been a pretty stressful past two months leading up to my surgery with him being in ICU for 10 days and then a further 10 days in a regular ward and he has a long road ahead of him. I had to post-pone my original surgery date due to this. In the end I decided to go with the mechanical valve in order to blaze the way ahead of him as he will have to get the same type because of his young age. Having gone through what I just have I now know I made the right choice because I would prefer, god willing, to never go through this again. At age 55 I am hoping this valve will outlive me. Itâ€™s Saturday night and Iâ€™m hoping to be out of here by Monday or Tuesday. Once again, thank you ðŸ™ðŸ» to everyone for all your kind comments and well wishes! Mary Anne

👍 Someone, Shannon Gray and reacted to this

Maureen O'neil

Prayers for you for speedy recovery and for your son

Marie Myers

Talk about a stressful situation! I hope you have a smooth recovery. The first 2 weeks are the hardest, so hang in there!

Susan Lynn

Mary - I'm glad you're on the mend and terribly sorry to read about your son's health. I can't imagine the stress before your procedure, but it's very admirable that you've decided to serve as a role model for him with your choice of a mechanical valve. I wish you... Read more.

Joe Tarango

Awesome to blaze the trail for him! I hope you continue to get stronger! I'll keep you both in my prayers.

Mary Jewett

Thank you every one for your comments, they mean a lot to me. I understand about the hour to hour day to day recovery iâ€™ve already had good days followed by not so good days. Iâ€™ve experienced a lot of naseau and my bowels are yet to move after 5... Read more.

Marie Myers

Have the nurses given you any stool softeners/and or milk of mag? The whole surgery and narcotic pain meds really stop up the works, and many patients need a little help to â€œget goingâ€. Hope you get some relief soon!

Mary Jewett

Hi Marie, to answer your question, yes. Today I was given something called Lactulose, a syrup given orally. It had the desired effect within about 20 minutes. Trouble was it went on for several hours with severe abdominal cramping intermingled with more nausea and a good portion of my day... Read more.

Mary Jewett posted a photo

6 years ago (February 22, 2020)

Thank you to everyone who left a post in my Guest Book. I ran out of time trying to get all the things done that I wanted to do before my surgery so didnâ€™t get a chance to reply to anyone. I came through my surgery quite well and was... Read more.