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My dad has been extremely weak, breathless, and dying in front of us. He had a heart valve replacement a few years ago, but another valve was failing big time. He was too old and weak for open heart surgery. No surgeon in town would do open heart on him to replace that valve. So yesterday, two heart surgeons, working together went in through his artery and esophagus, and repaired the failing heart valve.
That was yesterday. He came home today.
I made his favorite soup for him tonight, and he ate two bowls - plus two rolls. His voice is now strong and he's not breathless. He's perked up. He is up and walking his laps around the living room and dining room with no help. He says he feels better today than he has in about three years.

It's an amazing thing to watch. A few days ago, before the surgery, he could barely make it across the living room floor without help. I couldn't hear most of what he was trying to tell me because he was so weak and breathless. Today - like a new man.

Here's the part that irritates me. Not everyone with a bad valve can opt for this surgery. He had to go through multiple tests to prove he was no longer a candidate for open heart surgery. Medicare won't pay for the repair surgery unless several doctors verify that you most likely wouldn't survive open heart surgery. Crazy. Patients should have the option of repair or replace.

GREAT news concerning your father~sad news that the process took that long when he could had this done sooner instead of suffering. I agree patients should have the option of repair or replacement.

That's great news! The Medicare thing doesn't surprise me. I can't imagine how he went through that for so long. A couple of years ago, i went through a few weeks of strange weakness after being on a low carb diet and losing some weight. I couldn't kick it. I finally went to my chiropractor for something else and mentioned my issue. He said my electorlytes may be off, and suggested drinking pickle juice. In a couple of days I was feeling back to  normal. I DID get checked out by a cardiologist and everything was fine. It's crazy how bad you can feel when the ticker is off just slightly. Praise God your dad got some help!

Thank you so much RB and Jaime.

Jaime, sounds like you had the keto flu. Electrolytes out of balance messes up everything and makes us feel extremely weak - well, like the flu.

My dad is doing good after his valve repair, but my mom...mercy. Last night, it took three nitros to get her lined up. It's like a balancing act between them now.

I guess so, it scared the keto out of me for sure. I thought I was having sudden onset congestive heart failure. But good ol' pickle juice fixed me up. It was weird, my heart was racing at about 90 to 100 beats per second, but the beats were very shallow. It's like I was in Tachicardia or something. Luckily I had a few days of pickle juice before my cardiologist saw me!