Allan Mack

Current Age:40

Occupation: Optician

When you found out about your condition: 1989

What symptoms you had: Shortness of breath

How you prepared for surgery: I prayed about it and informed my friends and family.

What type of surgery you had: Aortic valve replacement

Medications before surgery: Adalat (even though I didn't have high blood pressure)

Medications after surgery: Coumadin

Type of valve you have: Prosthetic

Hospital where your surgery was done: Vancouver General Hospital

Your experience there: Excellent

Your first few days home: Rough at first. I became weak and had flu-like symptoms. The pain in my chest lasted quite a while. After that, my stitches became ithchy. But I soon got stronger with each passing day and was well on the way to a complete recovery.

Your recovery since then: In general, excellent. I have been able to jog and hike up mountains--something I could never do before.

How you found out about this site: Google

Any other comments you can share: You can read more about my experiences here:

http://www.allan-mack.com/heart.html