Craig's Journal

Re-do aortic valve replacement on 12/12. Discharged last night 12/17. Impressions from doing this a second time:  Amazed that there was very little or no pain.  Hurt a little when I coughed or sneezed.  I felt like superman on Day 1 after surgery but Day 2 not so much and Day 3 I thought I would die, mostly from Afib, fluid on lungs.  Thanks to 2 wonderful nurses who spent many hours with me and gave me about a million drugs I felt better, 5 hours later.  Day 4 better and Day 5 home. I was evaluated for TAVR and a my cardiac height was too small, which disqualified me for TAVR. Dr. Liam Ryan at INOVA Cardia Surgery, not only  replaced by torn trifecta valve but enlarged areas of my heart to allow TAVR if needed in the future. Extremely grateful to Dr. Ryan..

I'm back! Nine years later I find my St. Jude Trifecta aortic valve prosthesis is leaking. Severe Aortic regurgitation. I hear that many of these valves have failed long before they were expected to fail. Symptoms were shortness of breath and unexplained weight gain, which turned out to be fluid retention. I re-read my journal post from 9 years ago and am comforted by the fact that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.
Surgery scheduled December 12 at Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax VA.

I've been tracking my aortic valve area for the past twenty years, as it's slowly been narrowing because of calcification or stenosis. It finally reached 0.8 sq cm which, coupled with me not being able to exercise without nearly passing out, meant it's time to replace the valve. Dr. Alan Speir, a highly respected and renowned heart surgeon, performed and aortic valve replacement on July 30, 2014. I must say that the first few days weren't fun. I had to learn how to sleep, get out of bed, shower and get dressed without aggravating my incision. But the good news is that Physical and occupational therapists were there to help in every way. I was discharged from the hospital in four days. After a month I was back driving and going about most of my business. I still had to be mindful to not lift anything heavy. I used the "if it hurts, don't do it" philosophy. I started cardiac rehab after six weeks, something I'd highly recommend to anyone who has heart surgery. It's a highly controlled physicial therapy program with nurses and trainers who understand limitations of heart surgery. You're hooked up to heart monitors, blood pressure taken before and after exercise and put through a ever increasing level of treadmill, bike and weight training. Outstanding program! I was told that three months after surgery, I could do just about anything and they were right. Pushups still hurt a little but after four months, even that's OK. I haven't felt this good in years! I'm extremely grateful to Dr. Speir for doing a great job, something he does several times a week. I also grateful to his staff, especially Pam Crippen, the Nurse Practioner that worked with me. She was always there in her calm, professional, reassuring manner. The ICU and stepdown nurses were fantastic despite the incessant IV pump alarms and nightime wakeups. All in all, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Oh and by the way, if you you're a guy and haven't had surgery yet, buy "The Incision Shield" sold on this website. I used it for more than a month to keep my shirts from rubbing on the incision. Really worth the money!