Wish me luck!

**Todd Bradshaw** · 28th August 15, 10:22 AM

Good luck Liam. I think you'll find that though it's certainly no picnic, it's not as bad as the anticipation. I had a valve replaced a couple days before Christmas, along with about 4" of my aorta that they replaced with a hunk of Dacron tubing, all to fix an upper aortic aneurism before it could blow out and kill me. All in all, I've actually had toothaches that caused me more discomfort than the whole process did.

Basically, you just go in and do what they tell you to do. Be prepared for them to constantly be interrupting you as you try to rest (which gets annoying) and don't be surprised if almost all food tastes really bad for a while. It took a couple months before my favorite foods finally started to taste "normal" again. They'll probably send you to cardiac rehab after a few weeks and the folks there will get you moving again and on the way back to normal. It's worth doing, especially considering the alternative. My main regret was that I wanted my wife to make me a flannel robe that was black up top with a tartan pleated lower section, for roaming the halls of the cardiac ward, but we never got around to making it.

**Father Bill** · 28th August 15, 10:46 AM

Liam - prayers & cares for you, and yes, you asked for luck, so lots of that as well!

Bill+

**Dughlas mor** · 28th August 15, 11:43 AM

My prayers and best wishes go out to you, Liam. I have no doubt that everything will work out well.

**Thekiltedmohawk** · 28th August 15, 11:59 AM

I hope nothing but the best for you! Good luck.

**JohntheBiker** · 28th August 15, 01:14 PM

Liam, here's wishing you the best of luck for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

**GMan** · 28th August 15, 02:57 PM

Blessings. You will do well.

**Pollok** · 28th August 15, 03:41 PM

Liam,

I'm a Physician Assistant that works in Cardiac Surgery. This is absolutely my favorite surgery that we perform!

I'm sure you've heard this already but, in the right hands an AVR is a beautifully elegant and relatively easy operation. It's very common for folks to notice an improvement in their breathing within the first couple of days post-op!

The recovery is often times straight forward, but can take up to a month before you are feeling back to yourself, and up to 3 months before you hit 100%. Remember, IF the going gets tough the objective is for you to feel better in the long run. It's a short term investment for a long term gain.

Congratulations on getting your surgery date!

Happy, safe, and speedy recovery,

Spencer

**SPS tools** · 29th August 15, 08:22 AM

Good luck, Liam. The waiting is the worse. It has taken me (6,2,3) months to convince the doctors that I really had something wrong with my heart (triple bypass `11, stent `14, stent `15). I know the feeling of not being able to climb a simple flight of stairs quite well.

Originally Posted by Todd Bradshaw

...Basically, you just go in and do what they tell you to do. Be prepared for them to constantly be interrupting you as you try to rest (which gets annoying) and don't be surprised if almost all food tastes really bad for a while. It took a couple months before my favorite foods finally started to taste "normal" again. They'll probably send you to cardiac rehab after a few weeks and the folks there will get you moving again and on the way back to normal. It's worth doing, especially considering the alternative. ...

What Todd said! I had to force myself to eat because everything tasted like cardboard. The nurse told me it's a common "pump head" side effect from having been on a heart/lung machine. Some parts of the brain shut down because they're getting a constant pressure instead of the normal pulse of a heart beat. Takes them weeks to recover. I was back riding my bicycle 4 months after the bypass. I worked up to it with walking every day, but only 100 yards at a time near end of the first week. Six months later I was riding 60-80 miles/day. Just take your time.