Ben's Journal

Hi friends - seems I haven’t as good as others in updating my stories here but wanted to share my experience now that I’m a week removed from my OHS. First, I want to say God Bless to the whole staff at Cedars Sinai medical center here in LA. All the nurses, technicians, staffers, ans everyone in between. They couldn’t have been more helpful, caring, attentive, and a huge source of getting me back up in my feet. they are all truly the best of the best at what they do and deserve all the thanks and praises. Same goes for my surgeon Dr. Trento - not that he needs any more praises in his incredibly storied career but he truly saved my life, like he has for so many others. For all my research and worry about which valve replacement to chose, he was able to fix my existing valve which was the absolute best scenario. He instilled confidence and calm in me a few minutes before going under which was huge. I’m forever grateful to him and everyone at Cedars. Secondly, wanted to provide a quick recap of my experience in the past 7 days with the process: -pre-op (day of): it’s really just about the nerves and mental here. No pain, just stress from getting up at 4am and drive to hospital. Not having a guest allowed until just going into the operating room was a challenge but again the staff and doctors really help put me at ease. You won’t sleep the night before almost no matter what you do but I think we can all agree that’s normal. -post-op (day of): don’t remember much from this one which I suppose is a good thing. The biggie is the breathing tube which I have no memory of them removing. GF said it came out around 4pm or so and that I kept trying to pull on it myself to a point where they had to restrict my arms. Again no memory of this so the point might be not to worry too much since it’s very likely you won’t be conscious during the removal. I do remember waking up in early evening when they sat me down and being extremely thirsty. My gf gave me some soda which felt like heaven. -the first night: was by far the toughest for me. Anesthesia wore off and pain meds weren’t enough. ICU is loud and busy and plus I was alone due to COVID. I barely slept and it felt like the night was a week long. This is where you’ll need every once of mental strength. -Day 1: as painful as it was to get out of bed, that was a turning point for me when they got me up to sit me down. I drank and was able to see my gf again in the am. Best news of all was that my vitals were good enough for them to move me from icu into a private room. Cant tell you how thrilled I was to hear. They made me take a short walk using a walker. Painful but worth it. -day 2 till discharge: no real pain and progress every day. Lots of walks and tests. Getting the tubes and dressing out isn’t pleasant one bit but it does feel way way way better once they are gone. So that 15 seconds of pain from the tubes coming out is well worth it on the other side. Again the lack of overnight guests was a mental challenge for me but that’s 2020 for everyone. Being back home is huge and so much comfortable. Highly recommend renting a zero gravity chair since it’s been my homebase since return. I’ve slept in it for the first two nights since my bed is too hard still. Showers are weird but ultimately very good to wash the hospital stink. Thank you everyone for the comments and help. For those upcoming patients - you’ve got this and reach out with any questions!

Hi everyone - I've been navigating this site for about a month now, and I've interacting with a few of you but here goes my first official post. Foremost, I want to thank everyone on here for all their advice and sharing of their journey. I've learned so much from what you all have posted and all the advice you've shared with each other. This site is absolutely heaven-sent. Now on to my case. I've had a bicuspid aortic valve with mild to moderate regurgitation for all of my life. The leakage hasn't changed much over the last two decades but I've developed an aortic aneurysm over the last couple years which has now grown to 5.3 at last measurement two months ago. I am 38 and 150 lbs so I was told by surgeons here in Los Angeles at both USC and Cedars that I undoubtedly require surgery. The good news is that surgeons are somewhat confident they can repair my valve (one quoted me at 70% confidence) but, as you all know, I still have to decide on a replacement in case they find my native one too damaged once they start the operation. Also like many of you, I've been agonizing over the decision of which replacement to chose. Surgeons told me I'm a candidate for the Ross Procedure due to my relative younger age. I know it's worked well for Adam and a few others on here but something about having to mess with 2 valves instead of 1 just feels like I'm doubling my chances of future issues. To me, that feels like a higher risk. I'm leaning towards the tissue option. Surgeons have recommended the Edwards Inspiris and the posts on here seem favorable based on early research. The Mechanical/On-X option is my least favorite one at the moment. I do like the idea that it won't wear down but I don't like the lifestyle changes that come with it - mainly the physical activity and dietary restrictions, not to mention the testing and having to regular check-ups. I welcome everyone's advice. I am going to set my surgery date in the coming weeks. I'm mostly just waiting on the hospitals here in LA to relax some of the Covid-related visitor restrictions before I officially schedule. I don't think I could handle a full week or more in the hospital and only see one visitor for a couple hours a day. I know I'll need more emotional support than that LOL.