Five Years Post-Op

I was supposed to have an echocardiogram and meet with my cardiologist in March, but the Covid-19 Pandemic arrived and my tests and appointments will have to wait. All seems fine with my heart valve.

Four Years Post Op

I visited Dr. Keane, my cardiologist earlier in March. All appeared normal with the EKG and I have no symptoms. Therefore, he scheduled me to come back in another year. I will get an echo before I see him in 2020.

Three Years Post Op!

Three years post AVR and my cardiologist is amazed at the great condition of my prosthetic valve. Aortic valve: Valve mean gradient was 11 mmHg. Es timated aortic valve area (by VTI) was 1.87 cmï¾². Estimated aortic valve area (by Vmax) was 1.83 cmï¾². Estimated aortic valve area (by Vmean) was 2.24 cmï¾².

Two Years Post Op!

Today is my 2nd year surgical anniversary. Yesterday I had an appointment with my cardiologist and all is well. I will not need to see him again for a year unless I develop symptoms. So it appears as though my aortic valve replacement and aneurysm repair, while difficult, was a success.

18 Month Checkup

Had a routine check up with my cardio Dr. Keane yesterday at 18 months post op. Everything is fine. I see him again in six months. Found out that my wonderful surgeon, Dr. Wheatley, has moved on to another facility...he is a rising star in the heart surgery world.

One Year Since Open heart Surgery

"A heart will never be practical until it can be made unbreakable." - L. Frank Baum

One year ago today, February 16, 2015, I embarked upon the most profound adventure of my life, as I put myself in the hands of a young heart surgeon at Temple University. He had told me that my heart condition would kill me if not treated. I trusted him to use his great talent and training to help me and he did not let me down. A year later I feel fully recovered and I'm enjoying my new lease on life.

It was a difficult recovery at times. Only the love and support of a wonderful spouse, many good friends, and our beautiful pets got me through it. To them I offer my undying gratitude.

To those facing open heart surgery in the future, know that all will be well with the support of loved ones and the passage of time.

Birthday Post

I saw my cardiologist last week. Everything is well and my PVCs have gone away. He wants to see me again in July for an echo, but if all looks well then I probably won' thave to return for several years.

PVCs & PACs

About a month ago I started noticing a lot of irregular beats, which I believed to be PVCs. I contacted my cardiologist and he prescribed a Holter monitor for 24 hours. The results showed PVCs and PACs but not enough of them to worry about. Happily, the irregular beats decreased recently. i still have some but everyone has somne, but far less than I had initially.

One Year Since My Heart Attack/Stroke

December 9, 2014: I was sitting downstairs enjoying my model train layout when I began to experience an ill feeling, chest discomfort, and vision disturbances. It was the beginning of my medical-surgical journey through three weeks of hospitalization, two open heart surgeries, and months of recovery. Today I am fortunate that my treatments were successful and I feel fully recovered. It's great to have a new lease on life!

Echo Report FOur Months Post-Surgery

What a great echo report!

Summary 1. Left ventricle: Size was normal. Systolic function was normal by visual assessment. Ejection fraction was estimated in the range of 55 % to 60 %. There were no regional wall motion abnormalities. There was mild concentric hypertrophy. Left ventricular diastolic function parameters were normal. 2. Aortic valve: A bioprosthesis was present. It exhibited normal function and normal motion. The leaflets appeared normal. There was a normal-appearing sewing ring and no rocking motion of the sewing ring. There was trivial aortic regurgitation. There was no significant perivalvular aortic regurgitation. Valve peak gradient was 12 mmHg. Valve mean gradient was 7 mmHg. The aortic valve obstructive index (by VTI) was 0.68. 3. Aorta, systemic arteries: The root exhibited mild dilatation, but represents proximal aortic graft after reconstruction of the proximal ascending aorta.

Surgical Evaluation

I was contacted by the marketing department of Temple University Hospital, where I had my surgery. They asked my surgeon if he could recommend one of his patients who they could interview about the experience, and perhaps even make a video. I agreed because I am so pleased with my surgical outcome and I have so much respect for my surgeon, Dr. Wheatley. He is a young and up and coming heart surgeon who is already an expert in his field. It will be my pleasure to give him my recommendation.

Cardiac Rehab

I attended 10 cardiac rehab sessions. I think they were useful for a couple of reasons. First, you are monitored with a running EKG in progress while you exercise. This is reassuring as you exercise and begin to test your exercise tolerance limits. Second, attending rehab gets you into a regular routine of cardiovascular exercise designed to improve your fitness level. This is particularly important for individuals who would not otherwise exercise. Since I already exercise daily, and the trek and expense to rehab was significant, I decided to withdraw from the program after 10 sessions. I do plan to resume workouts that elevate my heart rate into the target range for me. This will be in addition to my walking and my workouts with weights combined with stretching. It's important to keep active as we age to avoid the trap of becoming frail prematurely.

New TEE! (shirt, that is!)

The back says "Proud Member of the Zipper Club."

Four Month Evaluation

I was in Philadelphia last week for my first post-operation medical evaluation. My first post-op echocardiogram since discharge was completed and I met with my cardiologist. Everything looks very good. My new aortic tissue valve is performing beautifully with no leakage and low gradients. This is good news. MY next appointment with my cardiologist is set for January, 2017. I am continuing cardiac rehabilitation, walking, and working with weights combined with stretching. The idea is to ward off becoming frail with age.

Cardiac Rehab Week Two

I'm in week two of cardiac rehab. I go to rehab three times a week. My target heart rate for exercise is 95-105 BPM. So far they have me exercising very lightly. My exercise HR is only in the 70s so I've asked them to increase my work load.

Cardiac Rehabilitation Started

Photo: The Cardiac Rehabilitation Center at Brookhaven Hospital on Long Island

I'm keeping busy with summertime activities while working on my recovery from surgery. I've started monitored cardiac rehabilitation sessions at Brookhaven Hospital here as well as an exercise program on my own with light weightlifting. I hope to improve my overall fitness level so that I can continue scuba diving and stay healthy generally. At 66 it's getting tougher to stay fit enough for some of what I want to do. But I can't complain. I'm lucky to be alive.

Exercise And Progress

In addition to my daily walks, I've started an exercise program that incorporates some exercises recommended in a recent issue of the AARP newsletter...stretching, body weight squats, touch your toes, etc. I'm combining that with a couple of exercises recommended by my scuba diving insurance company that are designed to improve upper body strength. I use two 20 lb hexagonal dumbells. The two exercises are pullups and pushups both done from a bent-knee position in the deck. Then I add some overhead lifts with the dumbbell one arm at a time, and some curls. I'm hoping that the body weight squats help improve the muscle tone in my left leg, which is somewhat atrophied due to a long ago bout of sciatica and arthritis in the knee. I'm trying real hard to stick to my low carb diet. My weight is good at about 190, down slightly from where I've been in recent months after my surgery. I stopped Warfarin last Tuesday with the blessing of my cardiologist so now the only pill is a daily aspirin. That made me happy. I have my first post op echo in a couple of weeks, but the valve seems really good. I have no palpitations or other symptoms and it really pounds shut. I know it's working, that's for sure! Finally, Monday I start cardiac rehab. I'm getting a late start due to the move to the summer cottage but I at least want to try some sessions to see if they are helpful.

Off The Meds!

Three and a half months after my surgery I have stopped with the last of my prescription medications...Warfarin. My only pill now is a daily aspirin. I'm feeling physically good,I've started to lift light weights and do exercises and stretching, and I am scheduled to start cardiac rehabilitation next Monday. I am still depressed over the loss of our dog Bradley. The problem is that the death of the dog happened at the same time as my surgery and so the two events became intertwined for me. Therefore I don't feel like I will ever be fully recovered because I can't bring Bradley back to life. This is unfortunate because my recovery has been so successful otherwise. I don't know what the answer is. Getting another dog might help but I can't expect another animal to be like the Bradley.

Three Months Post-Surgery

I'm feeling physically pretty well. This week I plan to start the ball rolling on joining a cardiac rehab program. It may help me to improve my conditioning. I want to try anyway. The results of my 24 hour Holter heart monitor were excellent with no arrhythmia or other abnormalities. My cardiologist took me off Amiodarone, of one of the remaining two heavier medications I'm taking. In three weeks I can stop the other (Warfarin) as long as I don't notice any palpitations or other irregularities. Then I will be completely off medications save for a daily aspirin and multivitamin. For the most part, I have made an amazing recovery from a very traumatic operation. I'm still working through mental and emotional thoughts and feelings that come with surviving such a trauma, compounded by the loss of my beloved dog, Bradley, while I was in the hospital. As I wrote at the time of my surgery, the whole experience has a surreal quality for me, and I often don't feel like I fully comprehend what happened and what the implications going forward are. This is not uncommon for heart surgery patients, The good news is that I am not debilitated or suffering from extreme depression. Hopefully things will straighten out for me with the passage of time and the loving support of my wonderful husband, who has always been there for me.

Eleven Weeks Post-Surgery

Photo: Spring on Fire Island: Beach Plum in Bloom

I am doing a lot of walking. Next week I wear a Holter for a day (three months post-surgery. Hopefully I can get off the warfarin and amiodarone if there are no abnormalities. We'll see. Feeling good with no medical issues. Battling delayed grief and depression over the loss of my dog companion. For two months I concentrated on getting myself better, but now that I'm feeling recovered, the pain of loosing him is overwhelming at times. He was put down while I was in the hospital so closure is difficult. If I had it to do over again I would have tried to find a way to keep him alive longer. He was old and failing, but I didn't realize how much delayed mental pain over him I would have later on. But what's done is done and I'll have to cope.