Thanks for the tag @JustinMcClanahan
My comments were written almost a year after my surgery and now I am almost another year on. I am coming up to my second re-birthday. I'd like to share my thoughts on my journey thus far.
Context: I had OHS, aortic graft, AVR, for a 6.5cm aortic aneurysm and a full length aortic dissection. The surgery was nine hours and I woke up three days later in ICU.
Post-surgery it appeared my liver was compromised because of the surgery - perhaps the heart/lung bypass messed with it, or medications or fluids used in the bypass. Surgeons would not approve my discharge until my liver function improved. Upon discharge I was given iron supplements to improve LFT levels. And it did improve with normal diet.
At the bed side in the ER, I was given that choice : 10 years for the organic valve, and 20 or more for the mechanical, with two caveats : the mechanical would make a noise and I would require blood thinners for life. My decision (and not to be taken as advice to follow since your situation, history, physiology and pathology is most-definitely different to mine) was : heck no - I don't want to go through this again in 10 years.
At one year, and still in the "why me?" phase, I sought answers to questions and shared my observation of my valve. Now another year on I would consider that my valve is settled, barely has a noise in daily life, yet at night can beat so much it is annoying. That's it... annoying. Like I kicked my toe two days ago and it's still annoying.
I had an OHS and learned to sleep on my back. Hard to learn but now I can do that without even thinking about it. On my side, my heart moves in my chest and feels a little awkward. On my back I get a little sweaty because of the size of the contact with the bed - it's simply a bigger area with less airflow.
But my valve... I can feel it and if I focus on it then it can be loud.
But it is part of my new life.
It is part of me.
It is me.
It doesn't define me or who I am. It saved my life. We have a relationship.
It tells me if my heart skips a beat. It lets me know if there is anything irregular.
I survived through science fiction; a thing that was impossible in my youth or the generation before me. That, or I was blessed by a miracle and God chose me to remain here to fulfill my purpose.
Great hands saved my life on that table two years ago, many more held me up when I was down, but one pair of hands drove me to the hospital that night with a stubborness more stubborn than my own. She is my angel.