On-X Valve update

Well, almost at the end of week 10 with the new valve, and things are going pretty well. Had a few setbacks early on, which all resolved pretty well (I'm still alive, aren't I? :) and the valve seems to work as advertised. One of the "benefits" of the On-X was it's reported lack of noise on beats relative to other valves. Initially, it was fairly quiet, but there were several situations where I could hear the 'clicking' fairly clearly; in bed before sleep, in a quiet room, after climbing the stairs etc. Even then it was fairly quiet, to where I wouldn't have minded if it made that level of noise perpetually, it's been a pleasant surprise to hear the valve get even more silent: within the last week, I've rarely heard it at all. I'm not expecting silence, but I can't complain with how little noise it's making these days. Pretty impressive compared to how much noise a lot of the older valves made. As one of my nurses put it "I used to be able to hear patient's valves standing outside their rooms in the hallway." Now, not so much.

Crash Cart Glossary: CHF

CHF: Congestive Heart Failure

See also: What is CHF?

The PQP program: Prison Quality Performance Program!

It's time to get into some prison quality shape!

Well, it's almost 10 weeks post-op now. The valve seems to be working well, getting quieter all the time, BP and HR look good, and all the recent doctor's appointments have been going well. With some luck, I should be cleared for an increased level of rehab at my follow-up with the cardiologist this week. The docs have been holding me back because of the issues post-op with inflammation, but I have still pretty much passed the point where conventional cardiac rehab would be useful ("You can go up 3 flights of stairs? The nurses in rehab won't know what to do with you!") given that the rehab in my hospital is geared more to patients who are having problems returning to normal activities, rather than getting back to the fitness levels that a lot of younger, more active patients might have been used to pre-op.  So, fingers crossed, I can get back into the gym pretty soon. So, lets look at some baseline numbers:

Crash Cart Glossary: BAV

BAV: Bicuspid Aortic Valve


See also: What is a BAV?

Crash Cart Glossary: AVR

AVR: Aortic Valve Replacement

My valve is the best valve in the world, all the other valves are for little girls!

Actually, I do think my valve is the best one for me, but that isn't quite the point of this post, although it does play a big role. If you have done any type of lurking/research/joined a forum, you tend to run into a couple of issues. Well, I call them problems, but lets be all PC and call them "issues". One of the major ones would be the fact that most valve performance information, graphs, comparisons, etc, showing how good each individual valve is, is found on the website for the manufacturer of the valve that you are researching. Not to say the information isn't good, but it would be shocking if the information presented isn't done in such a way as to make that particular valve look the best. Take my valve, the ON-X valve. Tons of great information, very impressive features, however, none of it is presented independently. Probably a little bias there, but who would blame them really; it is their valve after all. Same goes for ATS, St. Jude, and whoever else makes the little buggers. Then you have all the tissue valves, and their sites with impressive patient testimonials, so you can see where the confusion in picking a valve would lie. You want a cow valve? Right-mouse-click-link-cow is the awesomest! Uh-oh. So let's head to the forums! Surely we can get unbiased information there.

Crash Cart Glossary: OHS

So you've found out you/someone you know has a heart problem. Next, you hit the internets and log on to a forum with fellow heart patients/seekers of information on heart problems. And what's the first thing you're hit with? No, not a sense of relief at having found kindred spirits; it's the 'effing frustration at trying to decipher posts filled with countless, I mean countless, abbreviations. Think GenY is bad with the sexting, OMG's, LOL's, and ROFLcopters? You haven't experienced anything till you log onto a heart patient forum. Someone had an OHS for a BAV with an AVR and MVR with a St.Jude and a Ross Procedure? Twice? You have no f*cking clue what that means? Too bad friend, because no-one is going to explain it to you, so take your WTF and move along. 

You see, we heart surgery patients can't fit pictures of our surgical scars into those tiny avatars, plus we'd rather show picture of our cats and/or a margarita, so all these abbreviations are just a sign that we're a member of the club/forum. You get some degree of admission once you understand them, but we aren't going to make it THAT easy. So, having been though a couple of ops, as well as  finally working out what all those damn abbreviations actually mean, I'm going to share them with you.

Here's the first:

OHS: Open Heart Surgery

Yes Veronica, it is like learning a second language.

Clear!

Welcome to Crash Cart, a blog 'bout cardiac rehab, as well as a bunch of other heart related nonsense. None of this should be considered medical advice in any way, shape or form. What works for me, works for me; it may kill you, might end up killing me, and your doctor knows way more than I do anyway. If they don't a) run, b) when you calm down, get a different doctor.
I wanted a way to keep track of my own progress, and maybe someone else out there is going through someone similar and can benefit from the camaraderie. Plus, I'm generally too irreverent for the regular forums anyway....