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W

wnickles

My name is Walter and I will be going into surgery for mitral valve repair/ replacement on Monday July 24th. Have been coming to the boards the last few weeks and just find the thoughts, well wishes, prayers and sharing that has been done with one another to be truly inspiring, motivating, and admirable.
Am 34 years old have been what I thought in good health and for some unknown reason even to myself went in to get my cholosterol checked the last Monday in June. I had no reason to go in. I have been to a doctor twice in the last nine years for flu/cold related reasons. I felt fine and really can't explain why I went in. Was informed I had a murmur that day Wednesday took an echocardiogram and was told Saturday July 1st I needed my mitral valve repaired or replaced. Life has been very different since that time. it kind of feels like it has stood still. It's the first thing I think of when I open my eyes and lasts until I fall into sleep at night. Sometimes I think I will go crazy before the surgery has time to take place. Have gotten over the thoughts that every heart flutter which I have daily now or hard to breathe breath is the end of me. Have an incredible wife who has fought HMO insurance companies for every appointment/ referral I have had to do. I have two beautiful girls that remind me not to give up ever. Had the cardiac catheter and the tube down the throat thing already, got cleared for surgery yesterday, approved yesterday for the insurance and now just have to wait for MOnday. It seems like a lifetime ago since I've felt good and positive about things. I know how important that is and I am constantly reminding myself that to try to not get over emotional . Now the waiting happens and I guess that is all I can do. Thank you to all for sharing your stories, fears, successes, prayers and more.
Walter
 
Walter..
I am so glad that you found us, BEFORE the surgery!!
sometimes when we find out it is like being hit by lightening.. HUH? What, did you say.. I need surgery???
but, it will be ok.
You sound like you have a very loving support team at home, and a great attititude.. That is half the battle!

thanks so much for posting .. that way we can pray for you and will be hoping to hear from you or someone who can post for you afterwards..so we can all take a deep exhale and know that you did great and are now on this side of things!

Monday sounds like a great day for a valve repair/replacement! Enjoy the weekend:)
 
Welcome!

Welcome!

Dear Walter - Welcome to VR.com, so glad you found your way here! Sounds like you have been on quite a roller-coaster ride the last few weeks, for me it was the same process, but spread over several months and that felt wild enough! I am so glad that they caught the problem with your valve - since my diagnosis I have heard several stories of people with mitral valve failure who ended up in emergency surgery or just died before they could even get to surgery. I'm sure it's hard to think of yourself as fortunate, but we are so lucky to live in a time and place where surgery is available and to have our conditions diagnosed.

Sounds like you have a great advocate in your wife - please let her know that she is welcome here too, to post any questions, concerns, requests for support, etc., that she might have. I hope that someone will be able to post for you after your surgery to let us know how you are doing.

Seeing you, your medical team, and all your loved ones surrounded in loving, healing light.

Love,
Liz
 
Welcome Walter! I had my mitral valve replaced when I was 32. My children were 5 and 7. Almost 15 years later, I'm here to tell you that life does go on, and it goes on with a heightened appreciation for all the little things in life. I know that you will do just fine.
 
Hi Walter-

Welcome. You are going to do just fine. And remember that this surgery fixes your heart, so it is a good thing.

If it wasn't for valve surgery, my husband wouldn't be here. He had his first replacement (aortic) while in his forties, had his mitral replaced a few years ago, and then a repair on the mitral. He's 75 years old, and still here.

Wishing you all the best.
 
Welcome

Welcome

Oh Walter, I am so glad that you decided to join us before your surgery. As you can see from all of the posts, we have all had different procedures...or the same...and different experiences...or the same.

I started to feel bad back in December...and now I'm finally having my AVR on Friday. I have gone through various emotions, but now I am calm and I'm just ready to get it over with and get to the other side of the mountain. I am lucky that, In Canada, we do not have to fight for our medical coverage. I am also lucky that I have a husband and two boys (ages 8 and 12) to help see me through this. Please know that people make it through with flying colors in this day and age and that we are very fortunate to have such great technology. In your case, you are very fortunate to have gone to get your cholesterol checked when you did. Someone was watching over you and you should take comfort in that.

Tell your wife that she is welcome here any time if she has questions or concerns, or if she just wants to vent. Please look for my post-surgery posts (after Friday). I look forward to meeting you on the other side of the mountain.

Hugs
:p
 
Walter,
I'm glad you joined the party before Monday! Surgery is nothing to look forward to, but this crazy group of people you're about to join, is!
Where are you having your surgery? I'm from Illinois originally and still go back every few months, so I'm interested in where you're having it performed.
We all completely understand how the thought of surgery consumes every lasting minute of every day, so really you're lucky that you have so little time to dwell on it.
I haven't checked to see if you're on the calendar, but if you're not, I will put you on.
Keep posting, and we'll be here to get you through this.
Mary
 
Hello Walter:

Hello Walter:

I too am glad you found this great little corner of the internet. The surgery wasn't fun, but most of us felt a lot better after a little time to recover. And this is a great place to come to for prayers. So much of life can seem trivial-but that's generally not true here. Many of us pray for each other freely, and earnestly. You will feel calm and ready on the morning of surgery. I can't explain why, but I am quite certain that will be true.

Soak up all the care, effort & attention your wife is going to give you. My heart valve experience, and everything my wife did will stay with me forever, and I smile everytime I think of how she cared for me. You will too.
 
Hi, Walter. You're at the right place for information and support. Sitll wish I'd found this gang before my surgery.

Try to enjoy yourself for the next few days - go out to eat, take your girls to a couple of movies, have a few drinks - you won't want to do much for the following few weeks, so have some fun.

I know what you mean by being obsessed with the surgery. It's scary. But it sounds like you had a really serendipitous notion to have your cholesterol checked - probably found a problem before you had a lot of symptoms and heart damage. You should do just fine.

Hang in there, have a good next few days.

And I'm curious where you are here in our great state, too. Quite a few Illinois people on the site.
 
Welcome Walter..
most before me have said it all... this is a great place for support before AND after surgery.. I was blessed finding it a month after my AVR 4 years ago.. I wished I had found it before, but then, like you I didn't know I needed surgery until I needed surgery.. knew I had a biscuspid valve, just didn't worry about it.. until I became sick.. the rest is AVR history.. over the mountain, etc...

Good luck on Monday, you and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

Chris
 
Welcome!!

Welcome!!

Hi Walter,

I'm so glad you found us. I've known I had minor problems with my mitral valve all my life but I can relate to your shock of being told you will need surgery. There are many people on here who have had similiar procedures - ask away - any question you have - also feel free to be yourself - we really are a community here :)
 
Welcome Walter!!

I ditto what everybody else has said. I only wish I would have found this site before surgery, but I'm just so thankful that I found it, even if it was after.

I also had the shock of my life when I had a few chest pains, went to the Dr., then was put in ICU to find out that I had a tumor attached to my mitral valve and it and my valve needed to come out ASAP. I was 39 and had never had any heart related problems before, no family history, nothing. I was hospitalized until my surgery, which happened 3 days later after all of the testing was done.

I, like you don't know why I decided this time to go to the Dr. (well my husband had a little to do with that, as he called the Dr.), but I had some chest pains before and always ignored them. All my tests were normal in the Dr's office, but the Dr. didn't feel comfortable sending me home, so that's why he put me in ICU over night. So, I feel very blessed that first of all I went to see the Dr. that day and second that the Dr. listened to his own gut and put me in ICU. After surgery, the surgeon said it was just a matter of time that the tumor would break loose and it would have been fatal. She said we caught it just in time. I believe that someone was watching over me that day, and that someone is watching over you too!!

The anticipation is the worst part about it! It's hard not to worry, but try not to. You'll be fine! My first words out of surgery was, "I made it"!! Be prepared to take it easy for awhile and don't get impatient with your body, as it takes time to heal.

I wish you and your family the strength and peace of mind you need to get through this difficult time. Hang in there and before you know it, you'll be on the other side of the mountain!!! :)

Take Care!!
 
Walter

Good to hear from you. I'm new here too and awaiting AVR surgery later this year. It came like a bolt from the blue for me too at age47, but life does and will go on. Good luck for Monday 24th, we'll be thinking about you over here in sunny Scotland. Be sure to let us all know how things are progressing. A supportive family is a real blessing and they will give you every incentive you might possibly need to get back on your feet.

Best wishes

Tam Cook
 
Welcome, Walter- glad you found us before the surgery and wishing you the very best for a speedy and uneventful recovery. We will be watching and waiting for an update. Please ask away with any last minute questions and I hope you achieve the calm that so many do as they walk through the hospital doors.
 
welcome!

welcome!

hi walter,
just wanted to wish you all the best on monday. we all hope that you might ask your wife/relatives/friends to post and let us know how you are doing.
please try to keep yourself busy and enjoy your family this weekend.
be well,
sylvia
 
Walter,
Wow what a shock for you - thank God that you found your way to the doctor's that day in June. You know He works in mysterious ways and here's proof.

I have no first-hand experience with surgery yet ( I received very unexpected news of moderate to severe mitral regurgitation in August 2004 and am in what they call the "waiting room" here - very frustrating and scary) so I have no words of wisdom to share...
But I did want to give you my best as you prepare for your surgery. I will say a prayer that your surgery is uneventful and your recovery goes quickly. Your wife and daughters will be in my thougths as well as they deal with all this.
Take Care!
Sue
 
You will be OK...

You will be OK...

I echo Mary's comments above. God has a way of directing us to be at the right place at the right time, especially those that follow and trust Him, and it sounds like you were guided to have your cholesterol checked in a nick of time. No doubt in my mind that this was according to His plan...

As for the waiting: Be Thankful! I know this will not make you feel much better about the surgery, but you can find threads all over this site that speak to the hardest part of this surgery being the waiting game pre-surgery. Including many threads by me... I learned of my Aortic Valve problem over 3 years ago and have been living with "It's the first thing I think of when I open my eyes and lasts until I fall into sleep at night" for that period of time. While hindsight is 20-20, I almost wish I had gotten my AVR surgery done 2.5 years ago so I could stop the worrying and move forward with my life. I am now 31 days post-op AVR and am doing extremely well. I am very thankful to have the surgery and the pre-surgery fear and anguish behind me now. I look forward to improved health and a long life since I am now 46 years old.

Please believe me when I say that the most difficult part of this process is the pre-surgery fear and anguish. Once you have it behind you the relief of getting it over with will be your only care-about. Trust in GOd to see you through. Whether you know it or not it seems to me He is already working in your life to help you overcome this obstacle. Trust Him!!
 
Hi Walter

So glad you and your family are joining us here at Vr.....It's a great place with loads and loads of caring and knowledgeable people.

To say "Don't worry" is ridiculous.....OF COURSE YOU'RE WORRIED!! When my hubby Tyce had valve replacement 4 years ago, I worried from morning till night. It's something that IS on your mind 24-7....so don't think that's the least bit abnormal!

Getting emotional, too is perfectly within the norm. Why wouldn't you get emotional? This is a huge change in your life....you can't duck emotions, sometimes they just overwhelm you!!

The good part is you're young and healthy and you're having this done at exactly the time needed. Sometimes you just have to give your worries and concerns over to your higher power. It's times like these that makes you think long and hard.

We will all put you and your wife in our prayers for the 24th.....I know everything will be fine and hope you can take some of that positive energy for yourself.

Good luck and Godspeed.

Evelyn
 
Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers. I appreciate every one of them... am not sure how MOnday will go, but can just pray for the best. Thanks again you all.
Walter
 
Welcome, Walter

Welcome, Walter

Walter,
I am so glad you found the vr site, because it will be such a comfort to you, pre- and post-op.
Like you, my pre-surgery adventure was very short; diagnosed with a murmur in April after rarely even going to doctors for anything but a sinus infection;
surgery with Ross procedure for aortic stenosis done two weeks ago-
July 5th. I am two weeks post-op. and I am glad to be here.

You will do great! The people here at vr.com are wonderful!
We have your back!
Terry
 
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