Welcome to my day to day journal of having open heart surgery.

When I started this blog I was not sure if I would need surgery but after many tests and doctors visits I had valve replacement surgery on June 23, 2010. I was born with a congenital heart defect, a bicuspid aortic valve. My blog reads backwards (like all blogs)....not like a story in chronological order...so go all the way to the beginning (here) to read about my history and how this all got started.

Let me know you stopped by......leave me a comment :)

Thursday, June 3, 2010

I guess we are counting down now...

So, I feel like I am coming to terms with what is about to happen to me.  I am not getting as upset so easily and I am able to talk about it better than before.  I have read more about what to expect during the recovery time and how it is going to be very hard at first but if I keep moving I will feel better faster.  I am going to try to keep that in the back of my mind. 

We have decided to go with the tissue valve.  It seems more natural and I do not have to be on Coumadin the rest of my life.  That feels like a scary drug that I really want to avoid.  I barely take advil right now....I am on no meds and I would like to keep them to a minimum.  I did catch, during the last appt with the surgeon, that I may need to go on a cholesterol med ( even those my last bloodwork showed my cholesterol was ok), baby aspirin and maybe a beta blocker.   I guess those will ward off any potential problems.  If I go into A-Fib during or after the surgery I may have to go on Coumadin for a month or two.  Lets hope not.

I got by new bloodwork results back and my iron levels improved a small amount....not much and they still are all saying "Low" but they are a little better.  I cannot say I like taking Iron...ugghhhh.  If you have ever taken Iron before, you know what I am talking about.

1 comment:

Leanna said...

Hi! Thank you for stopping by my blog (www.eastvalleylife.com) recently. Do you have someone who's been through open heart surgery who can answer your questions? If you want to chat please email me at leanna1017@hotmail.com I think I might have some useful tips for you. I went home from the hospital 8 months ago today! :-)