Terry's Journal

In response to inquiries from friends and family as to what I will be going through soon for Pure Aortic Valve Regurgitation I wrote this: Common knowledge is to be in the best shape you can be before having surgery. I live on this terraced hill and climb around here up and down daily plus I get about a mile walk in almost daily.I can’t jog due to injuries but stretching is great. I can’t tell if I’m losing stamina due to the heart valve thing or if it’s my age but when I get this over with I’ll know better what to work on. I plan on swimming as Medicare pays for membership at the local swim center. I went to Brazil music and dance camp this year partially because my cardiologist told me to take a vacation sooner rather than later. When I went to the local clinic for a rash on my arm a couple weeks ago the doctor there said, “ I see on your chart they’re moving towards surgery”. My medicare sends me approval notices for medicines I have never heard of and I can’t pronounce. Oct 15 is my next 2 month interval stress echo heart measurement appointment. I’ll know more then but my sense is it’s looming close. I’m starting put a team together for rehab, assistance, driving, pet care,shopping etc . Since I live alone in a rural area 100 miles from the hospital my cardiologist said Medicare will most likely pay for initial convalescence, probably in a hotel with a nurse near the hospital for a about a month since I won’t be able to drive and basically bath myself for a few weeks? I’ve been shopping power lift sleeping recliner chairs and a chest pillow in case I sneeze to use after I get back until post op month three. I hope I don’t get hooked on Vicodin, that doesn’t sound fun. Next the sternum heals, incision pain goes away, and full energy returns by about month six. I’ll be able to drive with a seat belt pillow around 3-4 months.Thats when I start a heart rehab program as well. If due to open heart surgery I get what’s called “bypass pump brain”(10%- 20% ) it may take 6 months up to a year before I get my full attention span back but playing music is probably the best thing I can do for jump starting my brain , any mental confusion etc. Who knows, maybe my jazz guitar playing will sound even hipper huh? It is so very frustrating to hear weekly in the news of FDA TAVR (Trans Catheter Valve Replacment) approval and new devices for other heart valves and conditions( stenosis) ,yet Aortic Regurgitation comes with its own set of difficulties and I can’t help but think if I can only hold on for another year or so I would be out of the woods concerning splitting my sturnum and the recovery this procedure requires. Does this sound accurate or am I way off base in my description, recovery timeline, or expectations for returning to work, feeling better, functioning as before etc?