Teressa's Guestbook

Teressa Phillips  Hi Anna, I see it is all sorted out now. Thank you for letting me know. Hopefully Adam's team will get the issue sorted out soon. Also, thank you for the compliment. 

Teressa Phillips  Hi Marie! Thank you for the information. I'll ask about it. The only thing they have given me is Zofran which does help with the nausea, but doesn't always stop the vomiting. I know I can't take anything like Pepto because it messes up with the absorption of my other medicines. I really thought it was my gallbladder and my GP though it was very plausible. Alas, my gallbladder looked perfect on the ultrasound. Maybe it is acid related. I see my GP again soon so I'll ask.

Grace Mason   Similar to Marie, I was given Pantoprazole, an acid reducer, post surgery to use for a while because of all the pain meds and aspirin. Hope you and your doc can figure it out for you.

Teressa Phillips  Thank you for checking in with me; sorry I haven't responded before now. I am recovering well. I went back to work this week and am glad to be back. 

Daneen Douglas  Thinking about you today, Teresa!  Sending prayers to you and your surgical team for a successful procedure and you are feeling better after your recovery.❤️

Jennifer Fuller  Oh, gosh. I had COVID about a month before my surgery. I told the team at my pre-surgery appointment and they didn’t seem to be concerned, but my surgeon wasn’t thrilled. I also went with a bio valve anticipating TAVR in the future. I’m a bit worried, though, that my valve size, a 21, might be too small for it.

Ana Brusso  Lifting you up in prayer for your successful surgery and recovery. God bless you and keep us posted. 

Teressa Phillips  I am so sorry to hear about your illness. I've been sick with COVID twice, but fortunately this time, never got sick. The second time I had it was no worse than a minor cold for 2 days. I hope all is well with you and surgery was successful.

Teressa Phillips  Hi Paul, sorry I didn't respond previously. By the end of the year I was very sick and then I had my surgery. Honestly, I wasn't given much of a choice. I'm sure if I had expressed a preference that my surgeon would have had more discussion with me. Everything happened so quickly. I was barely out of the hospital when I met with the surgeon who told me, normally with younger (who knew 50 was younger?) patients they like to do mechanical valves because of the life span of the valve. The trade off is of course warfarin for the rest of my life. I did research quite a bit, but other than dashing my hopes of becoming an elder roller derby champion, the mechanical seemed like a good idea. I can hear it when in a quite room and I can feel the vibration in the back of my throat (it feels like a pop-rock.) I've been surprised about how little it has bothered me. I've already told all of my doctors that my new goal in life is to wear out this mechanical valve and make them replace it when I'm in my 70s.

Teressa Phillips  Hi Dave! Sorry I haven't responded before now. My INR levels have been pretty stable. After a little adjustment in my first few days, I've been on the same dose. They told me once I was stable for 3 months I could get a home machine and start monitoring myself. So far I've only had 1 mystery bruise on my shin and some impressive bruising from an ultrasound. Finger pricks for my blood sugar checks stop bleeding just fine. I haven't had any cuts, but we'll see how that goes when it inevitably happens.

It has dashed my dreams of becoming an elder roller derby star.

Dave Walters  Glad to hear your doing well, I’ll be 8 months out and still in 6mg warfarin same as when I left the hospital. Ugh Roller Derby star would have been awesome , I’m sure you can still interact with the team in some way! 

Teressa Phillips  Hi Karen and Valerie. Unfortunately, my surgery was postponed after my pre-op appointment for a positive COVID test. I am asymptomatic and have since tested negative, but we couldn't take any chances. Now I have a few more weeks of worry and obsession. 

Valerie Allen  Ahhh, that can be very upsetting at first. Just hang in there, take deep breaths. It won’t be long.