Ruth Reshad - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

3336 days ago

I would like to know if any of you have had to have the mitral valve replaced and tricuspid valve repaired at the same time. I have moderate leakage in the ...Read more

I would like to know if any of you have had to have the mitral valve replaced and tricuspid valve repaired at the same time. I have moderate leakage in the tricuspid. I've been reading studies that say it is important to fix the tricuspid.

Rita Savelis I had both my mitral and aortic valves replaced (5 months ago). When I woke up from surgery, I was to ... Read more

Rita Savelis I had both my mitral and aortic valves replaced (5 months ago). When I woke up from surgery, I was told they had also repaired my tricuspid. Glad to have gotten that extra repair.

Ruth Reshad Thanks Rita for responding. Hope you are doing well.

Mindy Currence I will be having my surgery in December, so I am sorry I cannot help with this, but I wanted to let y ... Read more

Mindy Currence I will be having my surgery in December, so I am sorry I cannot help with this, but I wanted to let you know I will be thinking of you this week. Wishing you the best!

Ruth Reshad Thnx Mindy
They did fix the tricuspid too
I'm home and doing ok

Ruth Reshadposted a journal

3342 days ago

Shirley Turner, Helen Yade, Elaine Cutri reacted to this

Ok, I'm getting my hair high and low lighted next week so the gray is gone. My cousin who also had open heart and is the same age said, "Never go to surgery ...Read more

Ok, I'm getting my hair high and low lighted next week so the gray is gone. My cousin who also had open heart and is the same age said, "Never go to surgery with gray hair they will think you are too old to save." Her dry sense of humor. Anyway I'm thinking to put some orange streaks in back since I am having surgery around Halloween. Maybe I should do the spray type just in a couple places the night before which would be funny to my adult kids. Just thinking.

Mary K Smart to get your hair done. I experienced almost no growth for about a month or six weeks after sur ... Read more

Mary K Smart to get your hair done. I experienced almost no growth for about a month or six weeks after surgery, as have other ladies in my cardiac rehab. If the same happens for you, you will be set for a while!

Autumn Griffin That is so funny! I will remember that if I have to have surgery. I love the orange too. That would b ... Read more

Autumn Griffin That is so funny! I will remember that if I have to have surgery. I love the orange too. That would be perfect for Halloween. I absolutely love Halloween. 🎃

Rita Savelis It is always a good idea to do something nice for yourself before surgery.
However, I think surgeons ... Read more

Rita Savelis It is always a good idea to do something nice for yourself before surgery.
However, I think surgeons LOVE "saving" older patients! (not that you are old!)
I couldn't wash my hair for 2 weeks after surgery and I just wanted it tied back and off my face.

Autumn Griffin So , Rita you are saying it might be best to invest in some dry shampoo?

Rita Savelis Well, I think most patients in the US are out of the hospital sooner than I was (in France). I was ho ... Read more

Rita Savelis Well, I think most patients in the US are out of the hospital sooner than I was (in France). I was hooked up to too many (electrical) devices in hospital to take a shower. I did use dry shampoo. And finally at 2 weeks a wonderful (male!) nurse's aide washed my hair for me....mainly because I was getting a pace maker installed the following day and needed to be "disinfected" with betanol. Having said that, dirty hair was the least of my worries!....

Ruth Reshadposted an update

3355 days ago

1 person reacted to this

I would like to know other people's experience with the Trans Esophageal echo. My first one was a breeze but my second one was traumatic. Please share your ...Read more

I would like to know other people's experience with the Trans Esophageal echo. My first one was a breeze but my second one was traumatic. Please share your experience.

Jean Raber I've only had one. No problems. I was in and out of the hospital in under 90 minutes. I'm so sorry yo ... Read more

Jean Raber I've only had one. No problems. I was in and out of the hospital in under 90 minutes. I'm so sorry you had a bad time with your second one. What happened?

Cheryl Batzing Ruth, I've also had two TEEs--one great and one traumatic. The first was traumatic because they didn ... Read more

Cheryl Batzing Ruth, I've also had two TEEs--one great and one traumatic. The first was traumatic because they didn't give me enough drugs to actually get me "out." My throat was numb, but I was basically awake for the whole procedure and heard every word said. They told me they couldn't' give me any more drugs and "here we go!" However, the second one was in the hospital after OHS before they did a cardio conversion--I was hysterical after what had happened the first time. I was assured that should have never happened...and they would get me good and "out." And they did! next thing I knew it was over. I would love to hear what happened during your TEE procedures. So sorry for the trauma you had!

Terry Shermeister Hi Ruth: My TEE was a mixed bag. I woke up towards the end of it and it was somewhat uncomfortable ... Read more

Terry Shermeister Hi Ruth: My TEE was a mixed bag. I woke up towards the end of it and it was somewhat uncomfortable but not anything that I couldn't deal with.

Jeanette Davidson I would encourage you to talk to your doctor about your traumatic experience. Explain what happened , ... Read more

Jeanette Davidson I would encourage you to talk to your doctor about your traumatic experience. Explain what happened ,and I would be confident they will give you extra special care. Best of luck!

Jean Raber If I were in Cheryl's shoes, I would be writing letters to the clinic or hospital and telling them I ... Read more

Jean Raber If I were in Cheryl's shoes, I would be writing letters to the clinic or hospital and telling them I was considering seeking legal counsel for pain and suffering. I might not actually do that, but it might scare them into not billing me for that procedure. In the future, I would also let anesthetists know what happened.

Ruth Reshad So sorry it has been so long since going on my journal. I was happy to see that people had responded. ... Read more

Ruth Reshad So sorry it has been so long since going on my journal. I was happy to see that people had responded. That makes me want to be more involved with this opportunity to talk with others in the same boat. Glad that a couple could relate to my experiences. I did complain about the TEE that was traumatic at CCF and they said they would talk to the Doc in charge of it but I didn't hear anything back.

Gary Stripling I've had two. The first one was a bit uncomfortable, as I woke up in the middle of the procedure. As ... Read more

Gary Stripling I've had two. The first one was a bit uncomfortable, as I woke up in the middle of the procedure. As I gagged a little they shot a little more drug in my IV and I promptly went back to sleep. The 2nd one was nothing like that - totally a breeze with no discomfort at all (except the sore throat afterwards).

Ruth Reshadposted an update

3355 days ago

1 person reacted to this

When I read your book Adam, it took me through what I experienced the first time around. I did a lot of crying but that has helped me deal with facing the ...Read more

When I read your book Adam, it took me through what I experienced the first time around. I did a lot of crying but that has helped me deal with facing the second replacement.

Ruth Reshadposted a journal

3355 days ago

Had symptoms beginning when I was 18 and now I'm 62. I lived near Cleveland so I was referred there right away. When I was 53 I had a biological valve put in ...Read more

Had symptoms beginning when I was 18 and now I'm 62. I lived near Cleveland so I was referred there right away. When I was 53 I had a biological valve put in at CCF due to severe leakage. Now the valve has stenosis and my symptoms are much worse than when I had the other valve put in. This time I most likely will get a mechanical valve. It is hard to face this recovery again and difficult to see my family have to deal with the worry. Thankfully we had 4 children in spite of this condition.

Jean Raber I'm so sorry you're looking at this a second time. We are about the same age. A veterinarian diagnose ... Read more

Jean Raber I'm so sorry you're looking at this a second time. We are about the same age. A veterinarian diagnosed my MVP when I was 22 (see my story), took the people doctors about 10 years longer to pick it up, but am now up for MV repair (though there's always a possibility they'll need to replace). Are the bio valves more prone to stenosis/leaking?