Hi Allan; we communicated a couple of years ago when you were selling your 6A. Mike and Don have offered very good advice. I also had my mitral valve replaced in Oct 2012; nothing proactive or precautionary in my case - it was a full blown emergency for me. Most of the requirements for regaining your medical are very similar between the US and Canada, and I got mine back in 6 months; would have been less if my cardiologist was a bit quicker writing and sending reports! The main concern the authorities have with regard to restoring the medical is the risk of stroke. If you have a bioprosthetic (tissue) valve, you probably won't have any significantly elevated risk of stroke, and if you have a mechanical valve, stroke risk is reduced to acceptable levels with anticoagulation (warfarin/coumadin). Look into the CHADS II scale and the hemmor2hage scale (I think I spelled that right). The 2 scales assess your risk of thromboembolism (clot) and bleeding type strokes respectively. In Canada you need to have a 2% per year or less risk of each of these types of event to get your medical back. I understand the standards are similar in the US.
Best wishes for your recovery, and feel free to PM me if you want to converse directly or have any questions I might be able to help with.
