Climbing????

[tdrother]

Does anyone here, who has had aortic valve and/or aortic surgery, actively rock climb? Or has that been prohibited after surgery? I will be under going surgery next month and I would like to know some of my limitation, as I would like to get back into climbing.

Thanks for the help,
Todd

 

[Lynlw]

Hi, have you decided what kind of valve you will be getting? whether you chose tissue or mechanical MAY play a part in if it would be recomended to rock climb, My son is 18 and has different heart issues (it's in my sig) one of his surgeries (the last one so far)was a part of it was getting a pulmonary valve, he got a carpentier edwards bovine aortic valve in the pulm position, and has no restrictions, he doesn't rock climb but snowboards ect, Lyn

 

[Jas0n]

i started climbing 2 years before my avr and i was able to start climbing again 6 weeks after. literally the day after i was given the go ahead to resume physical activity - after my sternum was deemed "healed" - i resumed my climbing gym membership. admittedly, i prob started climbing hard a bit soon, but i was going nuts just sitting at home. i found that i was not nearly as strong (obviously, after loosing 18 pounds), but my finger strength remained and i didnt have any real chest pain, just a bit of discomfort. nothing that didnt stop me from climbing everyday for the next week. i was actually climbing reasonably well. before surgery, i was projecting 5.12b, leading 5.10 and bouldering v6. i havent been climbing as much as i was before surgery, but i can redpoint 5.11a and boulder v5. i havent lead outdoors yet because of the weather, so ....

one thing: i choose a donor valve because dealing with coumadin managment imho, was something i didnt want to be an issue as a 22 year old (i have a hard enough time taking 3 pills once daily!)with the rest of his hopefully long life to live, but i also race road and mtn bikes (road rash and bleeding would def be an issue since i crash at least once a season). also, im a thai boxer who trains/fight, so bruising/cuts are a very big issue there. a mech valve just didnt work for me, but the most physical thing you do is climb, i dont think it would be prohibitive.

best wishes

 

[mtkayak]

I have a mechaincal and I would climb but not without the protection of a helmet. I doubt that would work though. Hell, knowing me I would do it anyhow. The only thing you would have to worry about is sustaining a head injury that could lead to hemmoraging. Other than that, cuts and bruising are no big deal. I abuse my body to no end. Since surgey I have 2 sizable cuts and I had a fence panel (about 50lbs.) fall on my head, all doing home improvement projects. No trips to the ER. But yes, it is something to consider when choosing a valve. I come in contact with rocks all the time while kayaking but I wear a helmet as does everybody who whitewater kayaks.

 

[Sir Reel]

For all of you, do your cardiologists and surgeons know and understand what you are doing? Some portion of the heart surgeon/cardiologists fields think the valve work/new joints may pull apart from too high a level of blood pressure. It typically results in them recommending that you don't lift more than 50 or 75 lbs.
It sounds like you are exerting yourselves in a manner that increases your blood pressure substantially. Someone on the forum recently reported that they blew their valve out and had to go back for another surgery due to weightlifting.

 

[mtkayak]

For all of you, do your cardiologists and surgeons know and understand what you are doing? Some portion of the heart surgeon/cardiologists fields think the valve work/new joints may pull apart from too high a level of blood pressure. It typically results in them recommending that you don't lift more than 50 or 75 lbs.
It sounds like you are exerting yourselves in a manner that increases your blood pressure substantially. Someone on the forum recently reported that they blew their valve out and had to go back for another surgery due to weightlifting.

Yes, my Card told me to stick to 50lbs in the weight room. Another Card told me to stick to weight that doesn't make me strain or red in the face. My Suregon didn't give me a weight limit but said no power lifting. In any case, I stick to around 50lbs - 100lbs in the weight room. Kayking doesn't involve a lot of straining and grunting or heavy lifting. My Card aprpoved the kayaking as did the Surgeon.

 

[tdrother]

For all of you, do your cardiologists and surgeons know and understand what you are doing? Some portion of the heart surgeon/cardiologists fields think the valve work/new joints may pull apart from too high a level of blood pressure. It typically results in them recommending that you don't lift more than 50 or 75 lbs.
It sounds like you are exerting yourselves in a manner that increases your blood pressure substantially. Someone on the forum recently reported that they blew their valve out and had to go back for another surgery due to weightlifting.

After extensively consulting with my surgeon. He has said that after my surgery, I SHOULD be able to resume to my normal activities with a little to moderate amount of changes. Now as far as Climbing or Mountaineering he has said tentatively that I will be able to continue after recovery. Altitude and adverse weather should not be an issue, but it is something that I will have to monitor and if I think that my BP is getting to high, then I will need to stop and rest. So plan for contingencies. But when leaving him he did say that I will be having OHS and aortic resection but an active lifestyle is necessary for complete recovery. He doesn't want me to sit around and watch my life go bye one bad sitcom at a time.

 

[Sir Reel]

Ok, I agree that plenty of exercise is the way to go, it just sounded like you were exerting yourselves beyond a 50 or 75 lb. lift.

 

[BillCobit]

Someone on the forum recently reported that they blew their valve out and had to go back for another surgery due to weightlifting.

I somehow missed that post, and can't seem to locate it with a search. Can you recall any of the specifics? I'd be interested in reading more. Thanks.

 

[Sir Reel]

I think this is it:
http://ww.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16493

mitchner9g wrote:

Hello - It might also depend a lot on the kind of valve you got. There's a very intense pressure gradient when weight lifting that I suspect is pretty hard for tissue valves to endure over a long period of time.

I had a ross procedure and really blew out my pulmonic autograft over a winter of resistance training a few years ago. I'm now weeks away from another AVR.

Mechs might not have the same issues, but definitely, whatever you do, make sure you're getting careful followup with your cardiologist to measure the effects of your program on your ticker.

****************************

It was in the Weight Lifting thread started by Geo with a last post of June 16, 2006.

I can't remember any others (other than the argument about whether Arnold blew his out or did it in with steroids).