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Thank you for the very informative reply. Frankly I didn't have the energy to really quiz my very excellent surgeon on all the details. I was pretty low energy

Thank you for the very informative reply. Frankly I didn't have the energy to really quiz my very excellent surgeon on all the details. I was pretty low energy at the time. I was relatively young for the surgery, mid-50s, so I don't doubt that that was a factor. I'm not sure a valve will cost $160k. That was the cost of open heart surgery with a double bypass and aortic aneurysm repair. I ended up paying about $8k of that after the insurance did its part. I would definitely prefer a less invasive procedure. Recovery would probably take less than five months, for example.

Gibbon1 8y ago
> I was relatively young for the surgery, mid-50s, so I don't doubt that that was a factor. Ex-gf's ex husband needed a valve replaced at 25 due to damage from an infection. That lasted 15 years. So at 40 he had to have it replaced again. And at 55 he died because they can only do it twice. So yes I suspect your surgeon wanted to push that as far into the future as possible. And every decade that passes is an opportunity for better treatment. > I would definitely prefer a less invasive procedure. Cross fingers. My friends brother is a young[1] cardiac surgeon that does really whack less invasive valve replacements. So this stuff is becoming available. [1] Gosh he's like in his only his late thirty's!
- StavrosK 8y ago
  > And at 55 he died because they can only do it twice. Fucking hell, that's brutal, why can they only do it twice?
  - robbiep 8y ago
    That’s not a hard rule, we treated a patient who was an IVDU who had 3 aortic valves in 3 years (IV drug users seed bacteria into their system which then form vegetations on heart valves, and there is an increased predisposition for the vegetations to form on foreign material such as replacement valves). But depending on the damage to the aortic root, that is going to be the primary determinant on if they are going to be able to undergo repeated procedures. I have heard of TAVIs being placed inside precious tissue replacements so that’s potentially the next route for a lot of people, which would mean basically x3, the third replacement being more streamlined than the previous two
    - StavrosK 8y ago
      That is very informative, thank you.
- reallydude 8y ago
  I am on my 3rd - surgery ages 2, 9, 31 43yr old senior software dev

Gibbon1 8y ago

> I was relatively young for the surgery, mid-50s, so I don't doubt that that was a factor. Ex-gf's ex husband needed a valve replaced at 25 due to damage from an infection. That lasted 15 years. So at 40 he had to have it replaced again. And at 55 he died because they can only do it twice. So yes I suspect your surgeon wanted to push that as far into the future as possible. And every decade that passes is an opportunity for better treatment. > I would definitely prefer a less invasive procedure. Cross fingers. My friends brother is a young[1] cardiac surgeon that does really whack less invasive valve replacements. So this stuff is becoming available. [1] Gosh he's like in his only his late thirty's!

StavrosK 8y ago
> And at 55 he died because they can only do it twice. Fucking hell, that's brutal, why can they only do it twice?
- robbiep 8y ago
  That’s not a hard rule, we treated a patient who was an IVDU who had 3 aortic valves in 3 years (IV drug users seed bacteria into their system which then form vegetations on heart valves, and there is an increased predisposition for the vegetations to form on foreign material such as replacement valves). But depending on the damage to the aortic root, that is going to be the primary determinant on if they are going to be able to undergo repeated procedures. I have heard of TAVIs being placed inside precious tissue replacements so that’s potentially the next route for a lot of people, which would mean basically x3, the third replacement being more streamlined than the previous two
  - StavrosK 8y ago
    That is very informative, thank you.
reallydude 8y ago
I am on my 3rd - surgery ages 2, 9, 31 43yr old senior software dev