I THUMP, therefore I am

I can hear my new bionic heart. Not just with a stethoscope, but all the time.

Thump, Thump, Thump.... all day long.
Thump, Thump, Thump.... all night long.
Thump, Thump, Thump.... For The Rest of My LIFE!

The first time I returned to the hospital the cardiologist put her stethoscope in her ears and had the business end about a foot from my chest when she said "wow, that really is loud!"

I expected to hear it, I was informed of this before the surgery. A clicking sound is one of the "minor" downsides to the mechanical valve. Here is what the manufacturer says on their website:

Some patients have indicated that they hear a clicking sound during quiet or restful times. If you hear this sound, rest assured; it just means that everything is working fine. This clicking is actually the sound of the mechanical valve leaflets closing. Not all people will even hear the clicking. Your individual anatomy and physiology affects the sound. Mechanical valves also sound differently in different people. The St. Jude Medical® mechanical heart valve has been shown in studies to be one of the quietest mechanical heart valves available.

If this is one of the quietest valves available I would not want to be in the same neighborhood as someone with a loud one.

The doctors cite several factors for my unusually loud valve. Because I am so thin I have little tissue to absorb the sound. Seven centimeters of my thick aorta (5mm) have been replaced with a thin (1mm) synthetic tube (always another tube). My surgeon says this is like going from a carpet to tile. He also said my heart happens to be very close to my breastbone, so the valve is playing it like a drum.

On the bright side, loud beats dead - every day of the week. I suppose I will get use to the sound, but I'm sad that I will never experience silence again in my life, unless I lose all my hearing.