Hello again everyone!
here I am, 5 weeks after my AVR and the ascending aorta graft. I had it done at the Regions Hospital in Saint Paul, MN - very pleased with my surgeon and the overall care. The recovery was less traumatic than I expected, the first few days being the hardest due to limited range of movement caused by the incision in my sternum.

I was released from the hospital after 6 days. Since I opted for a mechanical valve I was put on warfarin, 2-3 INR level.
It is overwhelming to come home with a bunch of handouts and the loud heartbeat and think that everything will be just fine...
The INR levels took some time to stabilize, I am on my first week long span before another test and do hope that the results will be good. It's tricky with the diet, big learning curve, especially with the family and growing kids around.
I am on 5mg warfarin and 1 baby aspirin daily.

Started to walk outside after I came home, gradually increasing the distance and speed. Thinking of getting a treadmill as the weather is getting nasty here.
Overall I felt that the recovery was going well. I had my intake meeting for cardiac rehab and I am scheduled to start next Wednesday, 3x a week.
Having said that, there is a glitch in my recovery and I find it somewhat discouraging..... the narrative has been how everything will get fixed an ei will slowly return to my new "normal" but there are bumps ahead... I had a couple of episodes when my heartbeat became very rapid or felt very irregular... then I had an episode when my resting rate would feel very slow and I felt like some beats were skipping, every skipped beat made me feel slightly dizzy, they always occurred while I was seated.

So I called the Heart Center, was fitted with a monitor for 48h and was told that it registered some very high beats, in 200s...interestingly enough, I felt and still feel quite fine...

I am supposed to take 25mg of metoprolol, once daily and then we will see..... all stressed about it as the internet is full of negative feedback from patients how it affects the quality of life, energy levels, mood... I had no chance to talk to my cardiologist since she was not in and another doctor made a call based on the Holter's results.

I wish my update be more upbeat, I feel this is a setback in my recovery and another reason to worry....

Thank you for having this wonderful forum to share the ups and downs!

Ilona