Yeah, it was about a year ago, surgery was August 4th 2023 so it is recent but I have had a solid recovery. I am at the gym doing weights, running around, honestly feeling better than I have in years. The suggestion from the cardiologist is I may have had a bicuspid or just dodgy valve and that made it more susceptible to infection, so I may have been running on borrowed time for years anyway. Still, I love my new valve, I take warfarin to manage clotting risk, and life is just generally better than before. It did force me to move on from my job delivering groceries and towards nursing, but that is not because of physical consequences, just a recognition of the finite nature of time.

Also, when I am in a quiet room I sound like a bomb from a cartoon, just tick tick tick, so that’s awesome.