My heart doctor told me I need a heart valve replacement. Has anyone experienced that and what was it like. He informed me the valve actually comes from a cow, lol. I told him I wanted one from a Holstein.

Theres a mechanical valve replacement called TVAR that can be done minimally invasive or they use the pig or cow valves which Im pretty sure is done old school doing open heart surgery. My cousin had the mechanical valve done a few years back and came through it fine.

My Dad had a TAVR procedure done several years before he passed. They used a cow valve. It's done thur a cath and is minimally invasive.

One of my friends had open heart surgery which involved a valve replacement. He had to take it easy for a couple months. The surgery was 7 years ago and he's doing fine. He'll be on warfarin the rest of his life which he says is no big deal.

A neighbor had one several years back at 60 and she’s done great never missed a lick

My Dad had one at 75 and made it to 93, and it wasn't the valve that killed him, so I'd say they're GTG!

Good luck on whatever you decide,,,

A guy I hunt with had a pig valve put in a couple years ago, so far, so good. He is very active and has no issues. You might want to ask about after care and medications. I'm not totally sure but I think you need to take blood thinners with the mechanical valves and not with the animal valves.

I am on a blood thinner now and have been for 5 or 6 years. I have to go through a series of tests to make sure there are no infections, I did not pass the dental test, I have to see an oral surgeon before I go any further.

I had open heart surgery to replace my aerotic heart valve in 2013. I had a piece of bovine pericardium installed to replace my 1.25 inch defective valve. He did not want to have me get a mechanical valve as I would need to be on blood thinners all my life. with the cow piece I am on 2 baby aspirins per day. I am getting my valve checked annually now. They say 10-15 years is the norm. The good news today is they can go through the groin with a liner and not open me back up. They can do that once I guess. I was 62 when we discovered the defective valve and 65 when we replaced it. I am now 77. The catalogs we get in the mail when we are older are for "body parts".

Bryce

What valve is being replaced? How old are you now? I had an aortic valve replaced in 2022 with an INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic vale from Edwards Lifesciences and at the same time they repaired my mitral valve.As far as blood thinners I only take an aspirin a day, if you go with mechanical you have to be on them for life.Openheart surgery vs Tavr was my choice so I could go either way but some people won’t be eligible for Tavr. I chose open heart surgery after much research.My reason was I was 66 so If I was to chose Tavr and it failed I would still need open heart surgery and it’s a more complicated surgery to remove the Tavr placed valve. I looked at complication especially stroke percentages of each procedure and mortality rates of both over time. One deciding factor for me and choosing the valve I did is because it’s set up so that if I need another valve the Tavr can be used and the valve is designed to mate up with a transcather placed valve. My thinking is if the vale fails 10 years form now I’m in my mid 70’s and recovery from open heart would be a lot harder.The surgery isn’t fun lol it’s not as bad as I invisioned, I was in the hospital 4 days and came home. I started physical therapy too soon , I started after 2 weeks and think if I would have started after 3 weeks it would have went easier as my chest wasn’t even close to healed. If you can I would rent or buy a remote control lazy boy type chair it makes it easier to get up and down without killing your chest. I highly recommend a bidet on that toilet seat!! Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Also I would go with a surgeon in a large heart center that had done lots of surgeries, remember your interviewing them !

I had an open heart surgery in May, 2020. My Aorta valve was replaced with a bovine valve, by request because I raised beef for some time. They also use pig valves as well.
There are three alternatives to replace a valve ;
1. Open heart, where they cut your chest open. This is what I had.
2. A medium invasive approach where they create an incision in your chest, pry two ribs apart and do their repair this way.
3. TAVR (Trans Aortic Valve Replacement) ; if/when I need another valve down the road, this approach is the plan.
A TAVR means they run a new valve up through a vein/artery to the heart (remotely) and cut the old valve enough to replace with the new one (kinda/ sorta....)
A TAVR will not work to replace with a mechanical valve.

> Open heart has the longest recovery, through the ribs is about half the recovery of OH. I understand TAVR is much less as it is the least invasive.

Hope this helps & best wishes to you !

My mother had it done in her 80's all went well lived 12 years more and not the problem of her passing.

This is good advice, especially about the chair. I had open heart surgery the end of February this year. The wife and I bought a power recliner with a power lift feature a week before my surgery. I was in the hospital five days. I slept on the recliner the first five days I was home. The power recline and lift features made my life a lot easier.

I went back to work three weeks after surgery. I wasn't supposed to but I was going to die of boredom if I sat around the house much longer. The simplest things were exhausting at first but I got stronger quickly. I'm eight weeks out now and doing well.

Like 70sdiver said, the surgery isn't much fun. I'd have opted for the robotic version but it was not an option for me. But it wasn't as bad as had myself convinced it would be.

I'll be 67 in about a week.

Glad to hear your doing good Lugnut. I was retired for a few months before my surgery lol so no work for me .

I could retire but that would probably kill me!

I wish you my best, Nittany!

Moosetrot

Neighbor had his leaky pig valve replaced with an artificial at age 87.

Good luck nitty, a buddy had one put in a few years ago, he's a few years younger than me and doing well so far.

Doctors can preform miracles these days. Good luck NL!!!