Sean's Posts

4 days, 5/25, removed from my AVR and aorta repair. First Svensson did the entire procedure through a "key hole" or ministernectemy. He did not replace the bad aorta, but repaired it. I received a biological tissue valve. Today they tell me I can leave the ICU. Initially all was good but I went into sever tachycardia and afib Friday night. At one point my pulse was over 200 and it was sustained between 125 and 135 for over 24 hours. All of the heart meds made me very nauseous and I was also very hot. They all told me that this was very common. Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) they performed a cardio inversion, to shock my heart back into normal performance. It worked the first time. Today I feel r ally well and hope soon to be moved to my normal room.

This is Lauren, Sean's wife. I wanted to post a quick update. His surgery on the 25th went well, and Dr. Svensson is pleased with the overall surgery and outcome. Sean is in ICU now, and he might be moved to a step-down room tomorrow. We will post more details in the next few days. Thank you all for the support and information over the past months!

Tomorrow morning is the big day for me, and surprisingly I am peace today. I slept well last night and have been overcome with calm. I attribute that to all of the knowledge and encouragement I have received from the great people on this site. Knowledge trumps fear. I can't thank this community enough for getting me to today, and I hope to contribute to others in the same way everyone helped me.