Re: update 8 and 1/2 months

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Posted by Mary E. Baril on July 23, 2002 at 22:51:00:

In Reply to: Re: update 8 and 1/2 months posted by Carl Plaskett on July 21, 2002 at 19:58:35:

I agree with you 100% Carl. I believe that some of the drug therapy the doctors have put patients on is sometimes just as risky, if not more so, as the "invasive" heart surgery. There are so very many side effects of the meds - and everyone reacts differently to them. I think Coumadin is one of the ones that I absolutely did not feel comfortable being on for the rest of my life, as I may have had to do if I did not have the surgery. One little accident may have cost me my life being on that drug. After my Maze surgery, I was having some problems with shortness of breath, my legs hurting while climbing up a little incline, etc., and finally I made a call to my cardiologist at Mayo's and found all my symptoms were due to a blood pressure pill that I was put on - Lopressor. I am on another blood pressure pill and am slowly weaning myself off of the Lopressor and am feeling great. I started by paying attention to when I was having my symptoms, and they were appearing within a half hour after taking the Lopressor.

If there are people out there considering the Maze surgery, consider the fact that there are so many success stories from the Maze out there - I think they outweigh the ones that haven't been successful. I am just so thankful now that I am not on a lot of drugs anymore - blood pressure pills, that's it - I have a history of high blood pressure in my family, so I will probably be on that the rest of my life. But, I can put up with that. If there is someone out there that can help you, by all means take the chance and do it. Life is too short to feel miserable all the time. We not only suffer, our families suffer along with us. How can we enjoy them if we are feeling so down all the time.

Here I go getting long-winded again. Good luck to anyone who is considering this procedure. There is not just a "small number" of us out there that have had a successful Maze done - there are a lot of us, and more and more are having it done. I have another friend out there - a Terry Hedlom from Minnesota who just recently (within the past 2 weeks) had it done by Dr. Dearani at the Mayo Clinic.
She saw my posting on the Maze Alumni Board and was very encouraged by it, as she was preparing to see her doctor at the time to discuss the Maze procedure. She is coming along well - she had her laptop in the hospital with her and has been keeping a few of us posted on her progress. If you are out there reading this Terry - hope all is still going well for you and know that you are an inspiration for people who are also looking for answers. Every success story is very important for them to hear about. Hats off to Dr. Dearani also!!

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