Trygve Harris - Heart Valve Journal

Richard Munson Those eyes on the professor are interesting.

Rose Madura Beautiful picture! He is stunning. Yes, cats are very in tune to how their "parents" feel. I'm sure h ... Read more

Richard Munson Our 4 legged friends are very attuned to how we feel. I often read about dogs that are trained to det ... Read more

Susan Lynn He's so adorable!!! I'm sure he misses you, too!

Marie Myers What a great picture!

Deena Z Awhh, your protector. I hope when you arrive home he gets that you are now all fixed up. (Finally). ... Read more

Trygve Harris The Professor figured it all out early. The day after our distillery cat, Mrs Stubbs, was cat-napped ... Read more

Trygve Harris The Professor figured it all out early. The day after our distillery cat, Mrs Stubbs, was cat-napped (yes, really,) someone threw this little orange monster out of a car in the lane way behind the house. He made a beeline for the kitchen door, skinny, screaming and stinky. There were plenty of other cats around,we fed them, but we let this tiny and sick creature run into the kitchen and he stayed there for 6 weeks. If I or my assistant went outside, he came with, but stayed between our feet. I was frantically looking for Mrs Stubbs, and Hassan was the one who fed him and entertained him in the evenings.
Eventually I had to admit Mrs Stubbs was gone; I blame my ex as he was obsessed with her. The Professor seemed kind of air-headed but sweet. We decided to call him Professor Maurice Pimblebrook, but hes registered at the vet as the Professor--this is hilarious in Arabic.
Over time, and some vet visits, he got micro-chipped, treated for parasites, cleaned....everything to give him the appearance of being a normal cat. He was already fixed, which is why he has a notch out of his ear. Eventually, very slowly, he became a bit trusting, more and more, and hung out for the distillation, which still shocks me as it's so hot and the air shimmers with frankincense. It's an intense environment and most humans can't stand it. But he stayed with his friend Hassan and be barely even came upstairs,. He slept in the kitchen. Eventually we started letting a in a cat who was bullied outside. This is Henri. Something bad happened to him and he is ultra skittish,and terrified, but after a night or two of sleeping in my office, with safety, food, water, a cozy bed and a litter box, he was soon waiting at the door by mid-afternoon. The Professor decided Henri was a threat and tried to kill him so we kept them apart. When I went to Dubai for a few days in winter 2022, I was diagnosed with heart failure and needed surgery asap. My insurance paid for surgery in Abu Dhabi, and I probably would not have made the flight home anyway. So I had to gather everything in Muscat and get back to UAE. I grabbed an apartment in Dubai and took the Professor, as Hassan was to follow and he was better suited to deal with Henri. Hassan didn't get a visa due to his passport (Bangladesh) so we are making some changes and trying again. In the meantime, Henri is now an indoor cat, who actually got into the bed with Hassan a couple of nights ago. It took years for him to relax that much. I know Hassan will be pleased to see his friend the Professor again. And I'll be happy to see Henri. More information than anyone asked for, but I feel like the entire story needs to be told, at least in relation to the name.

Trygve Harris This is Henri--bullied and attacked outside, I think he had virtually no chance of survival. Now he p ... Read more

Deena Z That's a glorious story, Trygve! -Actually it's more like several vignettes all coming together to ... Read more

Trygve Harrisposted an update

188 days ago

Susan Lynn, Kimberly Eisenhut reacted to this

I have some complications, very annoying and depressing ones. I'd like to hear people's feedback, especially regarding care in the US.

I had the mitral ...Read more

I have some complications, very annoying and depressing ones. I'd like to hear people's feedback, especially regarding care in the US.

I had the mitral replacement March 30, 2023. All good. Then I got an endometrial cancer diagnosis, which spread in the month between the heart surgery and the hysterectomy. But we got rid of it.

I had chemotherapy + immunotherapy then radiation and still having this immunotherapy drug from Merck (Keytruda) which is specialized for BRACA cancers...I've had 8 does, the chemo part is done, but I still have a bunch of these (not sure how many) every 6 weeks.

My new valve is calcifying, and didn't really last a year. It's the animal one. I'm doing coumadin and concor, to keep the blood from pooling on the valve. But it's not ideal and my INR went down to normal levels--I was away in the US--and had no health care there although now have Bluye Cross but no doctor. I've just had an exhausting 23 hours of afib. There don't seem to be many options for me.

I figure it could be 1, the port, 2, the keytruda side effects, or 3, that my port looks infected and the infection could be spreading through my body. I've been put on antibiotics. Or it could be something else. Mt cardiologist said "one in a hundred" people has a complication like this.

My excellent middle eastern insurance (which was French) was sold and has now bailed on me, so I'm not beholden to the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi any more. In the US, I have Blue Cross through New York State of Health. The immunotherapy is insanely expensive (under patent for two more years.)

My question is who is considered absolutely great, in the US, in New York if possible, maybe Mt Sinai? I need someone specializing in mitral valves, and very complicated scenarios. Does this exist? I still love my heart surgeon in Abu Dhabi, and I have two cardiologists in the UAE, but none of them are familiar first hand with options in New York.

I will be back in July and trying to line up someone to see. Had thought I would have a procedure but apparently not, and the reasons make sense, but......anyone have a recommendation?

Trygve Harrisposted an update

366 days ago

Kath Duggan, Trygve Harris reacted to this

Hi I thought I'd update this--after many months. I had mitral replacement at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi on March 30. I also received a diagnosis of endometrial ...Read more

Hi I thought I'd update this--after many months. I had mitral replacement at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi on March 30. I also received a diagnosis of endometrial cancer and it was a month after the heart surgery before they could remove it. In the meantime, it spread. So I have the full blown protocol--surgery-chemo-radiation-immunotherapy as this cancer is "aggressive." Just finished the chemo.

This is not exactly what I would choose, but hopefully will get through. I had started walking etc and the chemo put a kibosh on that--so now am starting again, with some yoga and simple walking. The chemo was carboplatin/gemzitabine (I have a bad reaction to taxanes.) and the immuno is pembrulizamab (keytruda), which is to last a year. A recent echo showed some damage to the heart, not sure what exactly but they will redo in a couple of weeks. The chemo definitely caused some afib. The cardiologist is reasonably confident it will rectify (I think.) I feel fortunate as this unusual combination of heart/cancer means the medical staff seems to take more of an interest than my previous experiences in New York.

Melanoma, which metasticized in 1986, was treated with radiation (in California), and the cardios here in UAE think the mitral situation might have been caused by that; the oncologists deny it. I also had breast cancer (triple neg) in 2016--it's braca related I guess. Treated with ACT chemo. Important that there is no lifestyle related heart disease etc.

None of the hospitals in New York checked for heart damage, despite hearing a murmur. The heart damage therefore progressed for years, and I was symptomatic since 2016--by the time I had the surgery this year I was in end stage heart failure.

Important for women to remember that we are often not taken seriously, and our complaints can be minimized. I was told at two separate New York hospitals that I was "out of shape" and should "hire a trainer" when complaining of my decreased exercise capacity. I had heart failure. And it was obvious when I walked into a hospital in Dubai--the cardiologist knew immediately that I was ill. For 7 years I couldn't walk a city block. Unforgivable, the lack of care in New York, and I'm grateful to be at a great hospital here, and 100% insurance coverage.

It's quite a delicate balance, to push myself, for the heart, but not too hard, also for the heart. My goal is to go back to martial arts. Thanks for reading.

Marie Le Roux So happy to see you looking so well, Trygve, despite the long time "on the inside" and new developmen ... Read more

Marie Myers Our bodies have a remarkable ability to heal!

Susan Lynn Woo-hoo! Good for you!! Looking fabulous, Trygve!

Greg Lewis Good news! I am gonna share a graph I have posted before, but is one of the most accurate graphs in m ... Read more

Marie Myers Excellent and true…

Grace Mason Yay! Released to home. One more big step conquered.

Trygve Harris Love that graph

Trygve Harrisposted an update

588 days ago

Marie Le Roux, Kimberly Eisenhut reacted to this

I'm still in ICU, now on day 5......Pain is not bad, and I developed afib so that seems to be the issue. And i still have so many lines through femur and my ...Read more

I'm still in ICU, now on day 5......Pain is not bad, and I developed afib so that seems to be the issue. And i still have so many lines through femur and my neck, but these are slowly going. I'm holding water and the sight of my feet freaked me out but my surgeon said 100% of patients take water during surgery and I agree, it does show my bodily efficiency. I think it has to do with the afib.
Yesterday I went into a perfect sinus rhythm for the entire day and the doctors who want to do the cardioversion had to back off with it. My surgeon thinks it's unnecessary and even though it's written up online to seem like a good idea, it's just today that I went back into afib. He doesn't think it's the end of the world. He told me my case had been "complicated" and he hadn't wanted to saw anything more because it serves no purpose to scare the patient and I agree. I had not known the pulmonary hypertension had stretched my left ventricle our to a ridiculous size. I had had no idea about this pathology, least of all that it applied, even though I was quite symptomatic.

One of the cardiologists came and explained the situation in a perfect way, and he even drew a picture. Frankly, it was adorable. With the blood pouring into the left ventricle, it pooled there and eventually the ventricle stretched out and yet the mitral valve had almost closed-the opening was very small, so the blood was backed up and trying to get through and it was chaos, and this lasted for years. And suddenly, BANG, the valve opened, allowing the blood to flow and this years long habit suddenly became moot. But the body needs time to reach its equilibrium. He thinks it's possible the arteries have become calloused, almost, or hardened, like someone who works with their hands.If that's the case I'm sure it will take longer to come to equilibrium. Bu we will see. I'm still shocked at how well our bodies are designed, and how they constantly attempt to right themselves

So I've got half my lines out, and still in ICU, and just went for a walk (with a walker) and it was easier than before surgery! I couldn't walk that far without rest before my operation. It's honestly the first time I've seen a big improvement.

I've been lucky to have a visit from my surgeon every day where he just explains whats happening and why it's good. So my takeaway is to not sweat the water retention and afib, as they are normal. Just give it time-- your heart took years to turn into its disaster--it will take your body some time to come back

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