Henry's Journal

So, it's been a while since I have posted updates. It seems that after surgery, time flies and you get all caught up in recovery mode. As someone mentioned in a previous post this week, post-surgery updates are important for all our friends who have upcoming surgeries and I for one also found all these positive post-surgery updates very reassuring for me prior to my surgery...........so brief update. I am now 4 weeks post-surgery and things have been going well. My breathing has improved, I am no longer out of breath walking (prior to surgery, I would get out of breath if I walked over a mile) and my scar is healing fantastic. All in all, I am very grateful and thankful on my recovery to-date. I start my cardio-rehab on May 26th and also have my first cardiologist apt on the same day, so I am praying that the echo shows that my new valve is functioning as it should with no issues. I am still trying to follow hospital instructions on walking / lifting things (hard to do, as I want to do more), but will continue on the recommended path until rehab starts (no use rushing things). I hope all is well with my other friends that had surgery when I was going thru mine and pray for positive outcomes for all those with upcoming surgeries. Some questions I do have is (1) when can you start putting stuff on scar and (2), what vitamins should I be taking now (prior to surgery, I took Vitamin C/D, fish oil, Q10, K2, magnesium and multi-vitamin. The fish oil acts like a blood thinner, but currently I am only on 81mg aspirin and 25mg Metoprolol, so not sure if I sure skip the fish oil for a bit (I have a 25mm Perimount Magna Ease tissue valve). Also, I have done some research on K1/K2 and research completed to-date seems to show that high doses of K2 allows calcium to be absorbed in bones vs. going to aorta / valves, thus preserving new valves from early calcification. Has anyone else heard of this and is anyone taking high doses of K2? Positive thoughts and prayers for all with upcoming surgeries........God bless!

Prayers and positive thoughts to all that have surgery scheduled this week. (Civita, Terrie, Chiew, Dana and Jim). Here is the one verse of the Bible that I actually took a picture of with my phone and read just before going into surgery. Psalm 27, v14 - Wait on the Lord: be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart: Wait, I say on the Lord.

So a quick question to all................I am still on occasion have shortness of breath issues when I breath in deeply. This goes away quickly and happens more when I am sitting down vs walking. My aortic valve area was at .7mm before and new valve is 25mm. Is this common after heart surgery as my heart is adapting to new valve and should I get it checked out? I used to have this issue a lot more before surgery, but would have thought that this would be a non-issue after surgery..........thx all.

So my surgeon just called and pushed my surgery off to Tuesday morning due to an emergency in ICU. I guess this happens all the time, so I am not too worried about it..........lol.

So I am packing necessities for recovery in hospital and emotions running wild..........but I guess that is to be expected. My wife had a bit of a meltdown this morning and I had to comfort her......Best wishes and prayers to all that have upcoming surgeries. It may be a few days for me to post updates and to all, God bless!

Hi all, I am having conflicting thoughts on my ascending aorta. It was measured at 38mm and the surgeon said when he was going in, he would determine if this was going to be replaced by Dacrom sleeve. Does anyone have any feedback how quickly the size could increase and what are the standard measurements that are used for replacement purposes? I would hate to have to have another surgery in a few years to address the ascending aorta issue when this could be completed at the same time as the valve replacement? My surgeon says it adds approx. 20 additional minutes on heart machine. Cathleen, I know you have been thru this as well.

So I went for my pre-op today, all the normal stuff that they do and everything looked good. They are having me take Amiodarone for the next 5 days before surgery. What they are telling me is that taking this prior to surgery may help avoid afib after surgery. Did anyone take this prior to surgery?

So I have another angiogram yesterday as they had difficulty finding the right coronary in the previous one, but yesterday they found it and happy to say no blockages in that either, so no bypasses required at time of surgery......I did find out that the surgeon will be looking at my aorta as I have mild dilation of the ascending aorta measuring 38mm. I looked at previous echo's and this was the same measurement as in 2011. Does this mean anything or will the surgeon determine if this needs to be replaced this when he is completing surgery? I wanted to know if there is added risk in completing this at the same time as replacing the aortic valve. Thx all, Henry

So I have another angiogram scheduled for today, as the last angiogram had issues showing the right artery to see if there are any blockages. I have my pre-op scheduled for April 5th and then April 10th surgery...........not sure yet how I feel about all this yet, emotions are all over the place now. Anyone have any calming techniques that may help me in the next week?

So does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to let my 10 year old son know that I will be having this surgery? I know it will be a difficult time for him as well, as we do everything together and now I will be out of commission for a while and not able to drive him to hockey practises, games, etc. I don't want to worry him that much. Its a good thing I have my wife to help out, as she will be taking a month off to stay with me.

So I just received a call from the surgeon's office and they have scheduled my surgery for April 10th. Pre-op scheduled for April 5th. Both excited to put this behind me, but also some worries as I have a 10 year old boy who still needs his dad. I an just going to have to put my faith in God and surgeon to get me thru this.

So I had my angiogram on Mar 22 (was much easier than I had imagined) and he has some issues seeing the right coronary. The doctor wrote that 'Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery with a high takeoff in the ascending aorta above the aortic root'. In layman's terms, my artery was not in the normal spot. He said not to worry about this, as he sees this a lot, but to ensure no blockage in the right artery, he has scheduled a CT angiogram. There were no blockages anywhere else, so he is anticipating no issues with right artery either. Thank the Lord that surgeon does not have to do an added by-pass when he replaces the bicuspid valve. On another note, the surgeon indicated he was going to look at aortic root (it was measured at 38mm) and he might replace this as well if he felt it was necessary. Has anyone else had both the aortic valve and aortic root replaced in the same operation? I would like to understand if there are any added risks for this and/or if we should wait? As per valve selection, I asked the surgeon what he would do if he was in my situation and he said without hesitation that he would go with a tissue valve, so that may be the route I take as well. I have my pre-op booked for April 5th and then surgery date will be scheduled.......getting a lot more nervous, as this is getting 'real' very quickly.

Hi all, anyone have any good questions that I need to ask my surgeon on Tuesday? I have read Adam's book and he has mentioned some very good questions, but looking to this forum to add your valuable input as well. Thx all.