Bill Schofield - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

2873 days ago

Shannon Gray reacted to this

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the well wishes and prayers prior to and after the surgery. Three weeks ago I had my BAV replaced with a Bovine St. ...Read more

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the well wishes and prayers prior to and after the surgery. Three weeks ago I had my BAV replaced with a Bovine St. Jude Trifecta. Was a tough decision on which way to go, but in the end went natural for now. As a development engineer and materials science performance and testing planner/evaluator for multiple products and materials, I chose to hedge my bets on the new materials and design developments that will be introduced over the coming decade+. The advancements in valve science and technology combined with improved surgical techniques/procedures (reduced risks, etc) over the coming years, plus not being dependent yet on Coumadin, etc, all played a role in my decision. I share this because several persons have inquired to natural vs. mechanical at my age (45). So now it's recovery. I've been fighting terrible sleep! This is definitely throwing off my recovery I feel. I am definitely leaps and bounds ahead from three weeks ago, but still just feel "rough". Almost like a walking flu type of feeling. Just don't feel right. This is about 50-60% of the time. I still attribute most of my feeling to lack of sleep. I was never a 'back' sleeper so this surgery has it me hard. But my flexibility is excellent with daily stretching, walking is a comfortable 2+ miles a day, and the pain has decreased greatly. I see the cardiologist and surgeon on Friday this week and should have some early feedback of the procedure. I had the mini-Thoracotomy procedure and can say that it wasn't a walk in the park. Obviously doable, but I'll say that "minimally invasive" does not mean minimally painful. Lol. So in the end, I'm very curious from others.....A) how long before you started sleeping "normal"? B) Did you suffer any vertigo? (I've been fighting it periodically---have never had it prior), and C) Did you do Cardiac Rehab and when did you start? Thank you all again! Bill

Bob Jensen bill. Thanks for your post. I am almost 5 weeks post-op and I've had a lot of the same issues with y ... Read more

Bob Jensen bill. Thanks for your post. I am almost 5 weeks post-op and I've had a lot of the same issues with you however mine was the complete open your chest surgery. One of the things I've been amazed at through the recovery is that your body speaks its own language and does things that are unexpected. I've never had vertigo either and I've had some of the last couple weeks. I've also had blurry vision and spots in my vision in my peripheral vision at last about 15 minutes and now they're becoming less frequent. From what I understand this is part of the anesthesia. I'm sleeping okay but today it's 2 o'clock in the morning and I'm up because my body told me at 5 o'clock it was exhausted and needed to go to sleep. But I understand normal sleep patterns will start happening over time. Just be patient and just listen to your body through this I was also told that for every hour you are under anesthesia it will take a month to fully recover mentally. Trust me the fog will lift show slowly

Ellen Leng Sleep IS hard after the OHS. It was 10 days home before I could sleep in bed, 2-3 weeks before I cou ... Read more

Ellen Leng Sleep IS hard after the OHS. It was 10 days home before I could sleep in bed, 2-3 weeks before I could sleep through the night, and I think it was 8 weeks post op that I could finally sleep on my right side. I had a mini-sternotomy. I could sleep on my right at 2 weeks home, but the left side felt weird sleeping for a LONG time!
No vertigo, but have developed ophthalmic migraines-totally new for me! Shimmering shapes in my peripheral vision for about 20 minutes, then gone and no headache thankfully.
I am doing cardiac rehab, started about 8 weeks. Would have started sooner, but they couldn't fit in the initial evaluation for 4 weeks! I've been pretty athletic all my life, but had post-op AFib and exercising hard while monitored makes me much more comfortable. Highly recommended!!
Remember, it's a long road and your body is going to heal in its own time.
Be well.

Bob Jensen Ellen - had another shimmering shapes in my peripheral vision episode again tonight - lasts about 15 ... Read more

Bob Jensen Ellen - had another shimmering shapes in my peripheral vision episode again tonight - lasts about 15 minutes- but no headache. Kinda scary - do these go away? And some nights my head sweats while sleeping - hope that goes away over time too. Any thoughts?

Rita Savelis I remember sleeping through the night on the 5th night when I was transferred from ICU to a regular r ... Read more

Rita Savelis I remember sleeping through the night on the 5th night when I was transferred from ICU to a regular room and I was so exhausted from the trauma of ICU and the comfort of a new room that I just collapsed into sleep. After that night I woke up at 3AM almost every morning for a long time.
One great after-effect of OHS is that after SIX (difficult) weeks of sleeping on my back (a position I hated), I can now (2 years later) sleep comfortably on my back and fall asleep in that position. So I gained a new sleep position.

Vertigo - yes, quite common at first and comes and goes.

I started cardiac rehab after 4 weeks (but I was in hospital for 4 weeks after OHS.

Take care, and take sleep medication if you have to as sleep is important. I hate taking any but I did sometimes after OHS on doctors' recommendation as sleep is crucial. Nap in the afternoon if you can.

Bill Schofield Wow! Yes! I get the shimmering shapes that blur out part of my vision too! I didn't know what it w ... Read more

Bill Schofield Wow! Yes! I get the shimmering shapes that blur out part of my vision too! I didn't know what it was. It slowly starts in a corner and works it's away into a large shimmer till it then starts to disappear.....about 15-25 minutes timing. I didn't know others experienced this too! Been happening rather frequently. But no headache with it or after. Thank you all for the feedback on the sleep and recovery. Plus the vertigo. I see my doctors tomorrow and think I will be asking for a sleep aid. A couple hours here and there of broken sleep is like torture now. Thank you again for your responses. They truly help. Bill

Phyllis Petersen I had repair, not replacement, but side entry does tend to be more painful to begin with (the muscles ... Read more

Phyllis Petersen I had repair, not replacement, but side entry does tend to be more painful to begin with (the muscles there are pretty tight and strong, plus sometimes they need to spread ribs), but recovery is usually faster and you don't have to worry whether the sternum is healing properly. I would take naps in the afternoon, but set a timer for an hour, so that I wouldn't be too far off on sleeping habits. I can't remember when I was first able to sleep on my left side, but I know I elevated my right arm with a pillow and kept the heart pillow pressed into my chest. I'm still hugging the heart pillow at night, since as new nerves come back on board, there's some new soreness. The disco lights around the edge of my site was more frequent in the beginning. Now it's only once in awhile. They only lasted about 30 minutes or less, but are pretty annoying. I was cleared to start cardiac rehab at about 3 weeks, but insurance stuff held it up until 6 weeks post-op. It's definitely worth doing. Being monitored and having your program planned for you allows you to push a lot harder than you could on your own. After stopping metoprolol, my BP has been a bit erratic, which they adjust for as needed.
It sounds like you're progressing really well. Good luck for continued progress and an uneventful recovery!

Ellen Leng I do still have the shimmering shapes, though not as often as I did the first couple weeks or so. Mig ... Read more

Ellen Leng I do still have the shimmering shapes, though not as often as I did the first couple weeks or so. Might be a new normal, have to ask the folks who've been out over a year, I guess.
And if that's the price of my surgery, I'm good with it :)

Larry Ring Hi Bill...two weeks out post-surgery...

Very interested in your research re: replacement valves. It ... Read more

Larry Ring Hi Bill...two weeks out post-surgery...

Very interested in your research re: replacement valves. It was sure the toughest decision I've ever made...no doubt. If you have some links, feel free to email me directly at larry@lringlaw.com.

I had a bovine valve put in.
Crossing my fingers that medical advancement and technology will allow me to avoid more OHS in 10-15 years.

I have had the shimmering shapes/vision blurring over phenomena over the last couple of days. I'm not letting it freak me out...it seems to be fairly normal post-surgery.

Luckily, still controlling my pain with Tylenol. Nothing else...

Every day is a blessing.

Bill Schofieldposted a journal

2896 days ago

Matthew Russo, Shannon Gray reacted to this

Time to stop thinking about everything that I should have done further to prepare and realize that I am surrounded by great family and friends whom will fill ...Read more

Time to stop thinking about everything that I should have done further to prepare and realize that I am surrounded by great family and friends whom will fill in the blanks for anything I may have forgotten. Surgery is just a day away now. Couldn't ask for better support from everyone around me, including my office and coworkers. I'm just trying to settle down now and relax tomorrow in preparation for Wednesday. Might even sneak a movie in for some "me" time to just disengage for a couple hours. Excited for a life with proper blood flow, heartbeats, and energy! But honestly a little nervous in parallel. I'll be sure to post when I'm able to on the results and during the weeks following the surgery. Good luck to those having surgeries this week! And of course to those in the future and those now in the recovery phase!

Matthew Russo Good luck Bill, you will do great and feel fantastic before you know it.

Bob Jensen Guaranteeeeeeeeeed!!!!!

Maggi Turner Good luck Bill. It will all be fine.

Adam Pick Bill, My thoughts and prayers are with you!!!

Maureen Breault Time to hand it over and have faith, you've done all you can. Thinking of you.

Jan Persico Good luck.....stay strong!

Ruth Valenzuela You will be fine! It was not as bad as I had imagined although it is no walk in the park! I was 63 ... Read more

Ruth Valenzuela You will be fine! It was not as bad as I had imagined although it is no walk in the park! I was 63 years old when they replaced my aortic valve with a bovine one. Also had part of my aorta replaced with a graft. I'll pray for you because I know it was by the grace of God I did so well... Take care..

Bill Schofield Thank you everybody and thank you Adam for making this site available for all of us to share. I'm ch ... Read more

Bill Schofield Thank you everybody and thank you Adam for making this site available for all of us to share. I'm checking in at 5:45am tomorrow morning and surgery is at 7:00am (Detroit time). Now it's in God's hands. Goodnight and see you all shortly with the surgery update! Thank you again. Bill