Valentine's Day Special

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Gregg

Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
17
Location
Saint Charles, IL
Valentine's Day Special

As I am sure many people have done prior to their surgery, I closely following this message board since I found out about my BAV / AA condition in November. Since I received so much information and positive reinforcement from everyone’s stories on this board I thought I should share my own.

I live outside of Chicago in Saint Charles, Illinois and was unaware I had any heart issues until mid-November. While driving down a two lane highway on a windy Sunday a tree fell down about 100 yards ahead of me blocking my lane. I got out and along with a couple of other drivers moved the tree to the side of the road and with the last 'heave-ho' proceeded to rupture my bicep tendon in my right arm. After seeing the orthopedic surgeon he said that I need to get a physical before my surgery to repair it - being a typical 44 year old guy in pretty good shape (I ran 7 miles the day before) I had not had a physical in about 4-5 years.

During my physical my doctor said "do you know you have a heart murmur?" I honestly did not...he referred me to a cardiologist who, after several tests, discovered my leaky BAV along with a 4.8 ascending root. He also told me to come back in 6 months to check it out. Well, I thought that was too long to wait so through my research both here and elsewhere I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Bonow at Northwestern (Bonow is a former president of the AHA). One of the other reasons I went for Bonow was that through my research I also discovered that Dr. McCarthy at Northwestern is one of the best valve guys in the world and I thought going through Bonow would be the best way to get him to do the surgery.

Dr. Bonow said that he was in a unique situation in that he usually has people referred to him for surgery and he tells them to wait but with me it was just the opposite. He said the concern was not so much on the 4.8 (remeasured at 4.6 root) but rather the size of my left ventricle. He said that while it is still working well it is borderline too large and that we should be looking at surgery within the next month or two.

So, I ended up meeting with Dr. McCarthy in January. After reviewing my information and tests he said that I am fortunate to have discovered this when I did because if we were meeting in a couple of years on this we would probably be talking about a transplant (yikes!). As others have noted on McCarthy, he is very confident - when I asked if there was any concern over my condition he said "nope, just another Tuesday..." He also mentioned that he has done over 10,000 of these which was reassuring as well. I decided to go with a bovine tissue and he cited the re-op numbers that others have stated here before. One piece of information I had never heard was that the valves tend to not last as long in younger patients due to the bodies production of calcium, not the level of activity that people have - I thought this was great in that I did not want to feel that I was “using up” my valve through increased exercise.

So, a week ago today (after a nice dinner at Gene & Georgetti’s the night before with the family) I went into surgery at Northwestern for the Valentines Day special of BAV replacement and root repair. I can honestly say that I could have not hoped for a better recovery. Northwestern released me on day 4 which is the earliest they will do so. Overall, as many have stated on here, the process is no walk in the park but it is definitely 'survivable' and while still serious, it is amazing how routine the surgery is for them. I have been fortunate in that I have really had no complications at all. All the tests are coming back positive and I have been pushing myself where appropriate without overdoing it.

I do think there are some things that can be done to improve your chances of success outcome. The way I see it is that it is part about being in good physical shape, part having the best surgeon and team working on you, and part just good fortune that there are no complications. That gives the majority of the success factors in your control. Also, I really do not understand why anyone would go into this type of surgery and not have the very best people working on you...for most people with insurance it does not cost more to have the best people working on you. I do realize, however, that I am fortunate to be in Chicago where we have someone like Dr. McCarthy to perform these operations.

Here are a few quick thoughts that I hope might be helpful to those who have surgeries coming up:

Breathing Tube: I woke up with the breathing tube in but was able to communicate with the family by writing notes. Not nearly as bad as I feared...they are basically going to leave it in until you take over the breathing. I noticed that it was doing less and less of the work and then I started to actively take over. It came out shortly afterwards - maybe an hour total. The majority of the first day in ICU is basically in a morphine-based blur.

Drainage Tubes: the first one came out on day 1 and the other two stayed in until day 3. These were probably the most uncomfortable things that take place during the stay but they were bearable. I have noticed that the surgery is about the heart but the recovery is about the lungs and that the battle is trying to take deep breaths and the tubes do limit your ability to do so. Removal of the tubes was more weird than painful. Things improve quickly once they are removed.

Walking: make no mistake, walking is a challenge the first days but you need to make yourself do it. On my first lap the day after surgery they basically give you a little cart to hold your oxygen and off you go. You will be amazed how weak you feel, but you will also be amazed how much further you can walk each time. My wife and I went for our first walk at home for a few hundred yards on day 5 and to be honest with you I could have done twice as much. But, as my wife keeps reminding me I need to take it easy...still trying to figure out how much to push it...

Mental Aspects: one of my biggest concerns heading into the surgery was the time spent on the heart lung machine and what the impact would be on me mentally. Once again, I think this might be another consideration for selecting the best surgeon. One of the other surgeons on the Northwestern team said that McCarthy is 'scary fast' when it comes to time on the machine. He basically had me on for 30 minutes to replace the BAV and another 30 minutes to replace the aorta root. Thankfully I can say there has been no mental impact that I can tell from the surgery...I have actually started doing some work and conference calls out of home over the past couple of days.

So, overall at one week out I feel surprisingly well. I am thankful for the team at Northwestern and for the tree that decided to fall over on a windy November day (a bit of divine intervention I believe). I would like to thank everyone on this board for making the process easier and also Steve and Greg a who sent me personal notes both before and after the surgery. For those waiting to go into surgery, please let me know if there are any questions I can help answer. Otherwise, I will continue with the recovery process (although I might head down to Florida next week for a little better weather!)

All the best,

Gregg
 
Thank you for sharing your story, Greg. Wishing you all the best with your recovery. You gave some good insight into the overall surgical experience.
 
Thanks for sharing your story, Gregg.

I fully agree with you about having the best possible surgical team. I believe my living so near to Mass General and having my surgeries there made a big difference for me. I had two bump free recoveries and am most grateful for that.

I also agree about the walking. It might be just about the best thing a recovering OHS patient can do for themselves. Walk, walk, walk.....

I hope your recovery continues to go so smoothly.
 
Thank you for this post. My hubby is having his surgery at Northwestern as well (May 8th), but we have chosen Dr. McGee and feel very comfortable with that decision. We have been quite impressed with the responses to our emails and phone calls, as well as Dr. McGee's personal phone call to me to answer some questions. I've got to say, that really surprised me to answer the phone one day and find the surgeon who we'd not yet even met face-to-face on the other end. Driving down (we are Yoopers) for the surgical consultation and some further testing only solidified the knowledge that we picked the right place to go. The office staff, assistants, techs...everyone was and continues to be very helpful. (And I thoroughly enjoyed the echo tech who pointed everything out, showing us every view possible and just putting me more and more at ease.)

My only complaint... the parking! I know it's downtown and parking spaces are at a premium, but it's still a shocker to have the validated rate be $24 a day. LOL!

Glad to hear your recovery is going well and I hope that continues.

Thanks again for the insight. I find that knowing what to expect makes it all easier to deal with.
 
Gregg - I'm no psychic, but your outcome and experience were just what I predicted they would be! I, of course, had nothing to do with that -- the care at Northwestern is just "that good."

I'm glad you were able to go home so soon and that you're doing so well. You're now beginning to experience your "new life." May you live it long and well.
 
Gregg,
Thank you for the wonderful update and your personal insight into the entire process. I would agree with likely 98% of what you had to say. The part that was different for me was that even though I live in an area that has two highly recommended heart hospitals (UCLA and Cedar Sinai), I chose a smaller hospital with a surgeon that while not prominently known did and excellent job. I would recommend lots of research and feeling comfort in your gut with the doctor that will be repairing your heart. It has been almost 4 years since Dr. Soltero mended my heart and gave me back my life. So I hope you continue to thrive and we see you post your valversaries for many years to come.
 
SusQ - your husband is in great hands with the Northwestern team and everything is going to turn out great

Steve & Greg - thanks again for everything

escargome - I actually think we are in agreement. My main point was to do the research to find the best surgeon for you...sounds like you did just that.

All the best,

Gregg
 
Glad to hear that things are going so well for you.

I tell people that the toughest thing about my heart surgery was telling my wife that she was right to have me start going to my primary care physician on a regular basis, since he caught my murmur on one of those regular visits. It really is spooky to think what would have happened without that, given the speed at which things can deteriorate in you heart.

Keep on going with your walks, because you'll amaze yourself at how much progress you will make with those during the next few weeks.
 
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