Darren's Guestbook

Hi Darren. I think a lot of us can relate to your apprehension about surgery. I’ve worked in health care for 40 years and sometimes knowing too much about what can happen is not a good thing. I try to focus on how amazing it is that heart surgeons can do such amazing things like repairs and replacements, and give people a second lease on life. I keep focusing on the fact that these surgeries are done daily and the risks are relatively low when compared to the benefits. I think the healthier and more active you are prior to surgery, the better you do in recovery. Reading the posts of everyone on this site has helped me tremendously in getting used to the idea of this surgery and has given me hope for a good recovery. One of the cardiology surgeons told me that the first few days after surgery, I’ll feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, then it gets better every day after that. I try to focus on that and the fact that, as scary as the surgery is to us, these surgeons do these every day. You can do this!

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Was great to read your story.....I thought I was the only person with pre surgery anxiety. I was diagnosed in 2009 & since that time I have felt as if I have a black cloud over my head about surgery. I also wake up in a panic & no matter what I try I can\'t shake it.

The best vibes to you Good Man. Will be thinking about you and hoping for the very best. These challenges that come to us that we don\'t ask for or need just keep coming don\'t they. You can manage with it, just know you will be just fine. If you weren\'t so far from here I\'d drop by and harass you until you bust a gut laughing or shoot me. Again, best vibes to you Good Man.

I had an ablation with my mitral repair and tricuspid replacement last year, I had bad AFIB and now I don\'t have it. My ablation went fine and took care of my AFIB, i understand yours is a diffrent issue, praying for you.

Hi Darren, I had my mitral and tricuspid valves repaired a year ago this month, and I have had the exact same problems as you.....atrial flutter (which really doesn\'t bother me) and slow heart rate (35 to 45) that comes and goes. I know the anxiety it can cause.......you just don\'t feel right and and you have an overwhelming urge to lie down. I\'ve seen several cardiologists and electro physiologists over the past year, and they all said the same thing.......annoying,but nothing to worry about. That\'s easy for them to say because they don\'t feel like crap! The electro physiologist I saw at Cleveland Clinic said an ablation may help, but it could also make it worse. He suggested I try to live with it. The cardiologist I saw last week put me on an extremely low dose beta blocker (bisoprol fum 5 mg), and I feel like it is helping so far. But, like you, my slow beats seem to come and go, and they are generally worse in the morning. I am anxious to see how I feel in another month, because maybe I am just going through a good spell right now. I also know that lack of sleep really affects my heart rate. If I don\'t sleep (which is often), my heart rate is bouncing all over the place. I wish you all the best with your ablation. I hope it is 100% successful! you will be in my thoughts and prayers.... Deb Z

Here\'s hoping for the best for you, Darren. As a poor EKG Interpretation student, almost half way through the graduate course, I gotta ask if when you wrote SNR if you meant to write NSR. I guessing it is an NSR issue. Out of curiosity I\'m wondering what your EKG strip looks like, just the curiosity of a student. Anyway, bottom line, hope your docs do good for you. ...Barry

My 87 yr. old father is sitting up and doing well the second day after his valve replacement. He is looking forward to playing tennis in June and walking at home in 7 days.Don\'t be afraid---Find the right surgeon--who makes you feel better. The valves do need to be replaced in 20 years. Good luck.

Sorry to hear this, Darren. Are you on medication for high blood pressure? Beta blocker? Lisinopril? I am on both Lininopril and Toprol XL (beta blocker) and I have quite a few of those days too. My cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic said he is not worried about it and wants to keep my bp and heart rate low - unless I become symptomatic. (dizzyness, tired) . . . now that he is increasing the Lisinopril I am quite tired very often. He said my body will adjust slowly. I know what emotional turmoil this causes. I know it all too well! I wish you all the best and try to hang in there and think positively. I know, I know . . . easier said than done. Ruth Howell

Wow, Darren. I only dream of having a resting heart rate in the 40s once again. Well into my training I decided I could call myself a real athlete if my resting heart rate ever got down to the 40s...and low and behold one day it did, eventually the record lowest being 46. But, it has never been below the 60s since the docs first did an angioplasty and stent, and then nearly 3 years later did the valve job. I don\'t have any idea what your normal HR has been, but if it hasn\'t been near the 40s or 50s, you are right on to let your doc know. I hope it is just because you are becoming an elite athlete and not a symptom of some issue problem. Good luck to you guy. BTW, the other day I for some reason thought about you and the piano. If I remember correctly you are an accomplished pianist...I actually Googled to see if I could find a sample of you playing. ...Barry on the mtn in NM

Hi Darren, Just read your new post. Sorry to hear re the heart adventure continues for you, but you gotta have heart, eh! You\'re not alone. I still have a little leakage where the repair was done and a little leakage with another..think it is the tricuspid. Pisses me off in a sense, but I\'m with it is what it is. Endurance has been a stuggle as far as hills and distance go and my oxygen saturation has never returned to 98 to 100 like before, And the resting heart rate hasn\'t returned to like it was before. I keep being told to be patient. Hell with patience, I want it NOW. But its gonna get here when its gonna get here. Went through the rehab prcess and tried as hard as I could...rehab folks were satisfied, but I wasn\'t. They even put me on the treadmill and worked me to complete exhaustion.....Dept Head said results were spectacular, but I wanted a do over \'cuz they weren\'t what I wanted. Guess don\'t necessarily get what I want..like many others. I\'ve not had spectacular times, but have managed to complete three sprint triathlons this season, one with a swim in Lake Erie that scared the hell out of me when I saw how far I had to go, but stupid me got in the water and started swimming and kept going til I could get out. Have done a few 5 K runs and two Half Marathons. If I am able to complete a Marathon on Oct 30th in DC, I will sorta consider myself cured, but I aint done it yet. What I\'m saying is working at it seems to get one somewhere. Guess I\'ve been to the ER twice, but all seems OK. There is life after OHS...my chronic cancer survivor friend who is my hero told me, when I asked him how he maintains such a super attitude...he says...Barry...it is all attitude. How simple, and how right. Best to you man. ...Barry on the mtn in NM

Hi Darren, Just read your new post and am very sorry to hear about the leakage. Ugh!!! I know exactly how you\'re feeling as I have the same problem and the worry drives me crazy. I wish you the very very best. I wish I had better words of wisdom. All I can say is I guess we just have to try our best to stay positive. Ruth Howell

Hi Darren, Thank you for your post. I often wonder how you\'re doing. I think I\'m pretty much in the same boat as you - maybe a different boat builder, but . . . Yes, I\'m totally sick of thinking about all this stuff and all the complications. Thankfully, the Celexa has made it a lot easier for me to cope. I also do not read the journals like I used to. I find that when I hear how easy some people had it I get very depressed and when I read about problems I imagine that I have the same problems. It\'s a no win situation, so I try to avoid reading too much. The good news is I have finished cardiac rehab. and am doing much much better. The valve is still leaking (as far as I know) and that really worries me. But I can now do pretty much everything and have more endurance and less shortness of breath than before the surgery. So that\'s a good thing. I have a lot of screwed up blood work which I am hoping will soon go back to normal. I would just like to get through an entire day and night without thinking about my heart. Wouldn\'t you????? Well, I wish you the very best. Please do stay in touch and if you\'re ever heading to Maine let me know. Ruth Howell

Darren, great to hear you are venturing out and hitting the road !! Hopefully, you will forget about heart issues and simply become absorbed in the moment !! To hell with heart problems....life is too short so GO LIVE IT !! I am happy for you. Please keep in touch and hopefully, you make your normal trip to AZ this February so I can buy you a nice dinner with your favorite vino !! All the best. Dean

Darren, I completely get it! We didn\'t put our sailboat in the water this year for the same reasons. Everytime I turn a corner or make a little progress it seems like something else happens. I was on a Holter moniter to see if I could come off the Coumadin and it apparently shows occasional A-fib. Freaked me out! I\'m meeting with my internist this morning to go over the results. I am now on an anti depressant to deal with my depression and anxiety (Celexa). I am sorry for our problems. Hopefully all will improve soon. ruth

Dear Darren, I must admit that I have not been following the HVJs - and yours was one I was following. I\'ve been so wrapped up in my own issues. I am so sorry to hear about the atrial fib. As you know, almost all heart valve surgery pts. have atrial fib. after surgery and are put on meds. to stop it. Is it possible that it will resolve itself with medication? I wish you all the best. Really, really, really. Feel free to contact me directly if you wish. ruthjohnhowell@gmail.com Ruth

I forgot to mention that I previously had bouts of A/F for several years leading up to my surgery and controlled it quite successfully with Propranolol. Talk to your cardiologist about it. very safe. no side effects. Also, wondering if you had the Cox Maze procedure done? Its practically commonplace nowadays for those of us who have had a history of arrythmias. tt

Darren, I can imagine your dissatisfaction with the news of the A/F just as I was with news of my valve repair not being the complete success that the surgeon had hoped it was. Have you had additional opinions from Dr\'s specializing in A-Fib? That\'s where I would start. I beleive they go by the title of Cardio Electrophysiologists. Best of luck in your endeavor. Terry Tannenbaum

Barry, I have not been following your story, but I am very familiar with afib and pvc. Had them for 10 years. Don\'t know where you had your surgery, but Cleveland Clinic is the place to go for afib. I went there in 2008 and had a afib ablation and then back in 2009 and had a pvc ablation (I was having 32000 pvc\'s a day) Dr. Walid Saliba did mine - both successful and I am in NSR. I do have a concern about it after my mitral valve surgery as I have been told they could reoccur bust ususally temporary. There is a wonderful website I used for many years when I was fighting these monsters it is called afibbers.com - by Han Larsen - he has both a newsletter, website and a book. Hope this helps. Chin up there is an answer. Emilyrae Helfen

Hi Darren, Sorry you are having the A-fib issue...all I know is at discharge the nurse told me about 35% of us...I had mitral valve repair...experience A-fib after the procedure. I may have had some in conjunction with a bad allergy episode Easter weekend, but it was just that isolated time. Have read a few HVJ entries where someone has mentioned it. Barry on the mtn in NM