Ask the young guy who just had open heart surgery

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Re-do aortic root replacement, almost 2 months ago
Feeling much better now, back on my feet
Only 24 - getting my sickness out of the way early I figure :wink:

zhongguorenmin

2

Two threads away:

As the gal who just had total knee replacement surgery.

You two have got to meet !!! :smiley:

Good luck on the recovery. Any near-death experiences while they had you on the pump ?

My Dad had an aortic valve replacement. They went with titanium. Always high-tech, Dad was. What’d you go with?

Cartooniverse

3

She inspired me!

Thanks for the good luck - no near-death experiences I’m afraid.

No idea what my valve’s made out of sorry, though I know the rest of my aortic root is something called ‘dacron’. saw it pumping away on an MRI scan last week - it’s very cool, the way the flow is instantly cut off when the valve closes.

zhongguorenmin

4

Your experience puts me in mind of a college friend of mine. He had a congenital heart defect, but when he was born they hadn’t yet developed a surgery safe enough to perform on infants. Consequently, his heart wasn’t fixed until he was in his early teens, IIRC. The surgery required checkups every couple of years by a cardiac specialist for about ten years afterwards. By the time he was going in for his last checkup, they’d begun doing this surgery on infants. He was quite amused that the cardiologist’s waiting room was full of three and four year olds getting the same follow-up exam as he was.

5

Dacron is a synthetic fabric invented by DuPont.

6

If I may ask, do you have Marfan’s?
I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.
:slight_smile:

7

Thanks for the positive post. Our daughter will have to have an aortic valve replacement sometime in the future. Always reassuring to hear from others who have gone through it.

8

No, I was born with aortic stenosis (and regurgitation). I had a tissue valve 10 years ago, and now it was time for replacement.

Thanks, I am feeling much better now. It certainly takes more out of you the second time, though!

zhongguorenmin

9

I should clarify - it was just a random bileaflet valve, no Marfan’s Syndrome.

zhongguorenmin