I'm 78 years old and on March 27th I received a new aortic heart valve, a Bental procedure to repair the aortic root, and a 5.0 cm aneurysm repaired. I was in St. Mary's in Rochester for a week, because after 5 days my team decided I need a permanent pacemaker which took a couple of extra days. We returned home on the 7th of March 7th. Our adult son drove us home and stayed with us for a week to assist where needed.

I may be an exception to the rule, but have experienced none of the difficulty some others have reported. I had minimal pain during my hospital stay, aside from the brief (and sharp) pain when I coughed. During my stay I only took painkillers stronger than Tylenol 3 times. Since returning home I have continued to improve each day. I resumed driving locally after 4 weeks and started cardiac rehab at my local hospital 10 days ago; three days a week for about an hour. I take a couple of Tylenol a day, but I often did that before surgery. I returned to church a week ago, and am planning to try singing with our choir at practice this week. I'm sleeping on my side and again using my CPAP. I have no problem showering or dressing my self. Again, this is 4 1/2 weeks after my surgery. Good luck to you and your husband and prayers for an uneventful recovery.