Jeff's Journal

Today marks 1 year since my AVR and aneurysm repair. It feels like yesterday and 10 years ago at the same time. I'm not quite where I was pre-surgery, but I'm getting close.

6 months and a few days have passed since surgery.

Things are trending back up again after my cardiologist caught VTach episodes. They seem to be the cause of the "black out" episodes I was having from late October to mid-December. He put me on metoprolol and things seem to be under control now. I've been able to get back in the gym for the last 3 weeks so that's great.

Recovery is a wild ride sometimes.

Today marks 5 months since my AVR. I also graduated from cardiac rehab today which was bittersweet. I had such a great experience with the kinda and caring nurses over the past 3 months.

I've had some ups and downs over the last month with bouts of dizziness and blackouts. I think we have narrowed down the cause to an electrolyte imbalance. I've made some changes over the last week and it seems to be working.

5 months flies by and recovery has its ups and downs for sure.

A little Halloween heart valve fun. I decided to lean into the wonderful little click that my On-X valve gives me and become Tick Tock Croc for Halloween. The whole family (other than my 16 year old son) joined the fun.

It will now be my costume every Halloween going forward! 😂

Has anyone had issues with low blood sugar after valve replacement? I'm 3 and a half months out and have had 2 episodes and almost passed out. I never had the issue before even if I'd go a day without eating. Just curious if this is a somewhat normal occurrence.

I'm just over 3 months out from my SAVR. Yesterday, I had an echo and wanted to share the comparison image from my echo in March (pre-surgery) to yesterday. It's amazing to see how much of a leak I had and to see that it is virtually completely gone. Amazing!

Left image is yesterday, right is March.

I just finished my 2nd week of rehab today. It's probably a little slower going than I want, but it's been great. I've also been doing a little running each morning to go along with it. Not bad for 10 weeks post surgery.

Today marks 2 months since my valve replacement. It feels like years ago and yesterday at the same time. I'm very thankful that I haven't really had any issues with recovery. I did notice a small "flutter" in my heartbeat last week (only because I can hear the valve). I'm wearing a monitor for a couple of weeks to make sure all is good there.

I also start my cardiac rehab next week so that may also help figure the heartbeat out since I'll be monitored live. All good things and I can't wait to start running again.

I had a 5 week post surgery visit with my cardiologist today. All looked good, I'm actually able to drop one of the BP meds I've been on for the last 20 years. I also got the referral to cardiac rehab so I'm hoping that gets set up soon. I'm ready to do more than walking at this point.

Amazing how much progress happens in a relatively short time.

Hello all. I'm new here, but I've been watching the videos for a few months.

I had my aortic valve replaced and a Bentall procedure a month ago. The information I got from this site and community was extremely helpful. I had my one month post op appointment yesterday and everything is going just as planned, I may be a little ahead of schedule even.

I've been making videos along the way in hopes that it could help someone else going through the same thing. I'll share the link here (they are completely amateur, but hopefully helpful). I hope this is ok to share. If it is against the rules of the community, please delete.



Thanks all.

Jeff Williams

https://youtube.com/@bicuspidaorticvalvereplacement