Liz Draeger - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

1242 days ago

Paul Lechiaro, Amy K, Patsy Stewart and 6 others reacted to this

Hi All: Thought I would share some happy! Aortic valve replacement and repair of mitral and tricuspid valves two years ago. 68 and walking 3-4 miles a ...Read more

Hi All: Thought I would share some happy! Aortic valve replacement and repair of mitral and tricuspid valves two years ago. 68 and walking 3-4 miles a day at 8,000ft altitude with 30 year olds! New lease on life!!!! Amazing! I would have never believed this was possible!

Great post Liz. Congratulations on your great recovery. Keep up the good work. God bless you

Adam Pick Wonderful update! Go Liz! Go!

Liz Draeger Thank you Adam for this wonderful website!

Liz Draegerposted an update

1940 days ago

Adam Pick, Mary Ann Felix reacted to this

❤️ May 2019 I had TRIPLE VALVE open heart surgery. Aortic replacement (bio-valve), repair mitral and repair tricuspid. Can anyone who has had double ...Read more

❤️ May 2019 I had TRIPLE VALVE open heart surgery. Aortic replacement (bio-valve), repair mitral and repair tricuspid. Can anyone who has had double or triple valve please share their recovery experiences? Three valves are rare and there are no experiences to read about. Even someone who has had 2 valve, open heart would be helpful. Thank you so very much!! ❤️

Michele Ripley Liz: Welcome to the Heart value replacement community. I have yet to have surgery to have my aoretic ... Read more

Michele Ripley Liz: Welcome to the Heart value replacement community. I have yet to have surgery to have my aoretic valve replaced but wanted to commend you on your courage to have the operation that you did. I’ll visit your journal in the future to see if additional patients had the same or similar procedures performed. I hope you are doing well and are starting to feel great. Thanks for posting your experience.

Adam Pick Wow Liz! A Triple? I'm not sure I have ever met another patient to have three valves operated on. ... Read more

Adam Pick Wow Liz! A Triple? I'm not sure I have ever met another patient to have three valves operated on. I've heard about them but never met on. So you know, I had two of my valves replaced - the aortic and the pulmonary.

Marie Myers Rita Savelis had AVR, MVR and pulmonary valve repair. You could check out her journal.

Rita Savelis I had 2 valves replaced (aortic and mitral) plus the tricuspid repaired in April 2015. This was all d ... Read more

Rita Savelis I had 2 valves replaced (aortic and mitral) plus the tricuspid repaired in April 2015. This was all due to heart damage I had at age 16 in 1977 when I had chemothetapy and radiation for Hodgkins disease. I had a surgeon specialised in this type of patient. My surgery went well but I had a long and exhausting recovery. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. It's common for former Hodgkins patients to have double or triple surgery.

Joy Vera Hi Liz. I had double valve surgery in May - a re-replacement of my aortic & a repair of my mitral. ... Read more

Joy Vera Hi Liz. I had double valve surgery in May - a re-replacement of my aortic & a repair of my mitral. I also had an aortic aneurysm which required repair of my ascending aorta & a coarctation repair from a 2010 surgery needed a re-do. My story is a long one & can be found by clicking on my name which will take you to my page. That said, I'm feeling pretty normal now so I'd say it was a success. Best wishes!

Liz Draeger Hi all and thank you so much for responding! I feel better already! Can any of you remember about ho ... Read more

Liz Draeger Hi all and thank you so much for responding! I feel better already! Can any of you remember about how long your recovery was for multiple valve repairs/replacements? No one seems to have a sense. I know everyone is different but I wanted to get a sense so I could gauge how I'm doing. I go to rehab which I have been progressing at slowly.

Rita Savelis Gosh. It depends on what you mean by "recovery". The surgeons told me that I would be exhausted for a ... Read more

Rita Savelis Gosh. It depends on what you mean by "recovery". The surgeons told me that I would be exhausted for a long time. They didn't use numbers. I was thankful for their honesty. Each patient is different. I was in hospital for a month and in live-in rehab for 3 weeks and then back in hospital through emergency for 2 more weeks because my lung lining neded to be drained for a 4th time. I was back at work 3 months after OHS but didn't feel over it all for at least a year.
It's not a race. And you can't compare yourself to anyone else.
Every patient is singular. Every heart is singular. You've been through a lot. Let your body heal at its own pace. One day it will all be in the past. That day can't be predicted.

Marjorie Murphy Liz
I am approaching 1year anniversary (9/7/2018) since my aortic valve and mitral valve were replace ... Read more

Marjorie Murphy Liz
I am approaching 1year anniversary (9/7/2018) since my aortic valve and mitral valve were replaced. I am pretty much back to normal now. The main issue I had after surgery was anxiety and trouble sleeping. Cardiologist said I had PTSD. I started seeing a therapist. She helped tremendously. Today I walk at least two miles a day weather permitting. Other days I ride the elliptical. Basically I would say physically I have had a very smooth recovery. I might mention that this was my second OHS (first was mitral valve repair) ) and I am now 78 years young.
Take recovery one day at a time. Wishing you all the best.