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Aortic Valve Replacement with TAVR: What is it like?
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Nov 28, 2023 | Replies (58)Comment receiving replies
Hi @karen1945
I see that you also had a liver transplant three years ago. Congratulations on your new liver and your new life!
While I know that your main interest right now is regarding your aortic valve treatment, have you had an opportunity to share in Connect's transplant discussion groups? The mentor of that group, Rosemary (@rosemarya), is also a recipient of a liver and kidney at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. I'm sure she would love to have you post about your experience sometime. Here is the link to those discussions, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/transplants/,
I'm glad to see that you are getting lots of responses to your posts from other members on Connect regarding the TAVR procedure. I hope you are beginning to become more comfortable with the idea of this procedure. It seems to me like you would be in surgery for a shorter time and probably the recovery time is much shorter because they are not opening up your chest.
How are you feeling about it now?
Replies to "Hi @karen1945 I see that you also had a liver transplant three years ago. Congratulations on..."
Thank you, Teresa. It helps a lot to hear about others’ experiences with TAVR. It is just so overwhelming to think about the procedure itself and what is involved. Putting your very life into a stranger’s hands is such a big deal! In the case of my transplant, my situation was so acute that there was literally no choice. It was a miracle that my new liver became available when it did, and I will be forever grateful to my hero donor and his family.
My hesitancy about the TAVR procedure now that I’ve had a stroke from the CATH, is whether or not I will have another when they go in for the TAVR. I might not be so lucky next time to have a complete recovery. I wonder also if this is the right time to be having the procedure. Is my condition so dire that it would be dangerous to wait another six months or a year before doing it? The first, I know, can’t really be answered. There are risks in every procedure. The second, I hope the surgeon will be able to answer after the angiogram I am getting on Wednesday.
I do follow the transplant discussion group, and will be happy to post there.
Karen
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@karen1945, I just returned home from my annual liver and kidney transplant eval at Mayo in Rochester. Based on my experience with Mayo, I know that Mayo in Jacksonville has been very thorough with your transplant aftercare, too.
Am I correct to assume that the surgeon for the TAVR is in contact with your liver team? Considering your hesitancy with the procedure, have you talked to your liver transplant team about the procedure, and their thoughts about proceeding now versus waiting?
I would be happy to meet you in the transplant discussion group someday.
Rosemary