March 18, marks sixth months since I had open-heart surgery to replace a congenitally defective bicuspid aortic valve and a portion of defective and bulging aorta. I wanted to update everyone on how I am doing. Executive summary is that I don’t know how I could be doing any better. I have more energy today than I had before I was diagnosed last July. My color is so good that I can’t count the number of people who have commented on it - enthusiastically (I wonder just how pale I looked before surgery!). I continue to exercise, more than I have in a long time. Ia primarily walk outdoors when weather permits. I am surprised by how much my condition affected me and amazed at how much better I feel these days!
Medically, I’m on beta blockers twice a day to control blood pressure (was once a day prior to surgery). I’m also on Coumadin (Warfarin) permanently. My Coumadin dosage stabilized very rapidly after returning to Minnesota after surgery. I think I’ve been on the same dose since mid-October and my INR is typically in the 2.1-2.3 range (my goal is 1.5-2.5). I have to go to the clinic about every six weeks for a 10 minute blood test. My sternum healed without complication and I’m able to do anything I need to without significant pain or deficit. I do occasionally feel a slight twinge or pull when I overdo things.
Now, a few more “frequently asked questions” and their answers.
Where did you go for your surgery? Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California.
Why did you go to Stanford? Long-story short, Medtronic’s senior vice president of Medicine and Technology, Dr. Stephen Oesterle, M.D., became aware of my diagnosis and offered to help us find the right surgeon for the job. He highly recommended Dr. D. Craig Miller at Stanford. I talked to Dr. Miller by phone and read excellent reviews of his work. With Dr. Oesterle’s high recommendation how could I go wrong so Stanford became the place to go. Dr. Miller made all of us, including my mom and dad, feel at home in his office at Stanford. Our confidence in Dr. Miller was high going in, higher after meeting with him before surgery, and my outcome has cemented our confidence in his skills and the care he took with my case. Dr. Miller is an outstanding surgeon and a genuinely caring human being. We clearly made the right choice for our situation!
How long were you out of work? I returned to work 3/4 time 8 weeks after surgery and returned full-time just after Thanksgiving (10 weeks).
What type of valve did you pick? Going into surgery, I was torn between tissue or mechanical valve. Medtronic does not have a competitive mechanical valve offering and tissue valves were only expected to last from 8-12 years in someone of my age and activity level. In the end, I picked a mechanical valve so there would be a low likelihood of future open heart surgery. I expected to wake up with a St. Jude valve, but due to anatomy and other factors, Dr. Miller selected a Carbomedics TopHat for my case.
Can you hear your mechanical valve? Yes, I can when it is quiet around me. There is an interesting combination of a higher pitched tick and a lower pitched thunk. It does not disturb my sleep or keep me from falling to sleep, nor does it disturb Deb’s sleep. The clicking provides me a built-in audible bio-feedback mechanism I use to tell if my heart rate is slowing or speeding up.
Are you on a restricted diet? I was on a modified salt diet after surgery and I have to be careful with certain green vegetables (they can interfere with Coumadin). The problem is not so much green vegetables as an inconsistent diet of them. I’ve never added much salt to my meals, so my daily salt intake didn’t really require much modification. Otherwise, my diet is essentially the same as it was pre-surgery. My condition was not diet or lifestyle related and, while I am taking better care of myself post-surgery, that is simply a bonus outcome not dictated by my disease -- thank goodness.
How much younger do you feel now than before surgery (Dr. Miller asked me to answer this question for him)? I’d have to say for sure I feel at least five years younger than I did on September 17 (probably at least 10 years younger than I felt on Sept 19th :-) We moved into our current house in July 2005 and I’m probably feeling as good as I did then, if not even better. It is surprising just how poorly I was feeling.
I am thankful to have discovered this heart defect and found a wonderful surgeon who could so skillfully correct the defect and put me not just back on my feet, but back on my feet much improved. I am thankful to all of you who sent your good thoughts and prayers our way as we went through everything. I am thankful to my mom and dad who travelled to Stanford with us and who made sure Deb had a support system while I was down and out. And, of course, my wife Deb is simply the best -- she kept all of you up to date on what I was going through, she kept me positive and sane, and she handled much of our household load for the eight weeks when I couldn’t lift anything, drive, or work. She made recovery as pleasant an experience as it possibly could have been. There is a special place in heaven, and my heart for my wonderful wife!
Thank you everyone!
Jon
