Lisa's Guestbook

Wow, your surgery happened today. Welcome to the community of those who have experienced it all. I was considerably older, age 70, when I had my bicuspid valve replacement. Two weeks of slight down time and I was in great shape. Here's wishing you well, Margot

Thursday . October 14 Lisa, I had my mitral valve replaced when I was 46. Both my mitral and aortic valves were compromised when I had rheumatic heart disease at the age of 16. I missed half my junior year of high school and feared I would not keep with my class. The district supplied a home bound teacher who came to my home twice a week. I guess I was sort of self-taught - - home schooled before it became a household word. My chemistry teacher excused me from all labs, so that is a shallow part of my education just reading a text book and answering questions. I completed college and have two children and four grand children. While I have not been able to compete physically/athletically with others, I have always been able to participate in tennis, skiing, biking, hiking, and I fly fish with my husband. My mitral valve was replaced with a mechanical St. Jude valve. A mechanical valve was HIGHLY recommended for me because of my age and the limited "shelf" life of tissue valves. Five years ago, I needed my aortic valve replaced, and I was given an ATS AP mechanical valve (another open chest/heart procedure). I was 80 in August, and have been on coumadin for 35 years. I have a home monitor for measuring my INR levels, and I report them to a coumadin team. Last spring I began to notice some breathing issues when going up stairs or when hiking. I have been diagnosed with EF (ejection fraction) which means my heart is lacking in "pushing" - "squeezing" - "pumping" as it should. I am on a regimen to lower my blood pressure as low as possible (without getting dizzy/light-headed) . . . and thus, improve the efficiency of my heart. I have been on metropolol and losartan for 5 months now . . . and slowly metropolol is increased, hopefully to a maximum level. Then my cardiologist will have me take another ultra sound to measure the ejection fraction of my heart. I continue with my activities. My favorite is riding my pedal assist e-bike with my husband. With pedal assist, one still needs to pedal to get some aid from the battery. It helps a lot going up inclines and into the wind. I do not have the sight concern, so I can see why you are hesitant to consider a mechanical valve. I am sure you have Googled the subject endlessly. The coumadin issue has fallen into place well for me, but I never attached danger to it. If I can answer any questions, I would be happy to do so. I live in Ken Caryl Valley, the very southwest area of metro Denver. I also spend time in Breckenridge which is 9600 feet in elevation. I breathe okay there . . . but experienced the same problems going up stairs and hiking. Bruce became a fly fishing guide when he retired.