Well, I’m 70 and in fairly decent shape but I’m beholden to blood draws once a week for life. Are you saying that a bovine valve doesn’t need INR and PT tests every week? I think I heard that somewhere as well.
I didn’t want surgery on my heart every 10-15 years. It was only done through open heart surgery in those days. Now it’s not necessary to open you up except for a few people and that TAVR or whatever it’s called is better. I didn’t know that in 2012 and neither did the number one heart valve surgeon that did my surgery.

So I opted for the mechanical one with a 40 year lifespan. If I need it replaced I would probably not be a good candidate for TAVR as that type surgery places a new valve over the old one by going through your groin.

My valve leaked and I don’t think placing a new valve over the old one would work. Anyway, it’s ticking away just fine.