My Time Has Come - Suggestions?

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L

lieb2101

Hi Everyone. I've been a member for some time but haven't participated all that much. I love the input from everyone. This is an amazing community.

After my recent bout of examinations and testing it looks like I'll be going under the knife this January. Dr. Armstrong from UofM Ann-Arbor was my recent cardiologist. It looks like I "failed" my stress test. I've got a Uni-Cuspid Aortic valve that I've know about my whole life. I knew that I'd be facing surgery one day but this really hit me by surprise because I don't have any symptoms and am very active. Apparently, that's the problem. They need to operate soon because my valve has caused an Aortic Anyrism and my weekend Aortic Root (the artery right after my aortic valve) has been compromised making me a prime candidate for "sudden death". Since I am not symptomatic, I don't have anything limiting me from pushing it too much and blowing out the artery.

The denial has hit me hard. It's going to be very difficult to manage this against work (I'm a project manager on a very stressful project) and life (we just built an addition on our house and we're strapped paying for it). I've also had a very long track record of not trusting doctors.

My surgeon is going to be Dr. Deeb at UofM. Anyone have any experience with him?

I'd appreciate any suggestions regarding what to expect and how to handle it... of course I'm scared but slightly optimistic because I've never known what it's like to have a real functioning heart. I'm going for the pig valve and it looks like I'll be having my aortic root (and maybe more) replace with gortex or some other synthetic material.

Best wishes to everyone, thanks for reading.
-Brian
 
Brian,

Greetings. This is frightening, no doubt. I know that I was. I was actually thinking about this when I was taking my Coumadin this morning. That this is a part of my life and I sometimes found myself ?wishing? I had not have AVR. But then I thought if I was wishing for anything (a waste of time by the way) that I should have wished for a healthy heart. If had it to over that?s what I would have had, a healthy heart. But these days I never second guess my surgery. I am so very grateful that we live in times that what needed fixing could be.

The surgery was not near as bad as I expected. Not the pain, not the recovery and certainly not the change in lifestyle. I recently lost a friend who battle cancer for three years. His motto, ?this is the way it is and I deal with it? Great advise for many of life?s obstacles/hurdles.

I wish you the best. I am sure that all will go well.
 
Congratulations!!!!

Sounds funny to say that, I know. But you are getting a new lease on life. It's scary for sure. The surgery and recovery can't be described as fun, but the payoff is great. Best wishes for a very successful surgery!
 
Brian,

I know that there are people on this forum who have used Dr. Deeb -- I have seen his nmae mentioned. Use the search box above and type in his name. Ross's magic software will give you links to the threads where he is mentioned. Then you could send a private message to those members for whom Dr. Deeb was their surgeon.

I have never doubted the need for my AVR surgery, and I am certain that it saved my life. This should be the start of a new life for you.
 
Thank God for pigs!

Thank God for pigs!

I had my AVR surgery in June 2007. I am 39 years old and had an infection attack my "normal" tri cuspid Aortic valve. I was also asymptomatic. It has been 5 months since my surgery with Dr. Leland Siwek in Spokane Wa., and I feel great! I was very active before my surgery, and am very active now as well. I am wrestling, softball, and baseball coach where I teach. I am able to do all of those already.
Take time to let your body heal. Do not rush it.
Read the "Bumticker" website from Steve Goldberger. AWESOME!
http://www.stevegoldberger.com/bt/BumtickerHomePage1a.html
God bless!
-josh-
 
Brian, think of it as the beginning of your new life. It is hard, but January will be here before you know it and soon you will be posting about your new lease on life. Be sure to read the reference thread- there are good threads there about what to take to the hospital etc. Be sure to let us know the date so we can put you on the calendar and cheer you on. Best wishes,
Phyllis
 
Thanks everyone for the comments and encouragement! I just broke the news to everyone at work, that was tougher than I thought. Everyone was much more supportive than I imagined (so far). Although I think telling my Mom was the hardest. My wife is taking it OK so far too but she's a real tough cookie on the outside.

Can anyone provide any insight on how long they spent in the hospital? How long did full recovery take? I'm told I need to take 3 months off work (the max of short term disability @ 60% pay). I'm thinking about taking as much time as I can even thought it might cost me my job once I'm back. Maybe this will be a good opportunity to either, learn German (I work for an Austrian company), write that book I've always wanted to write, or write the perfect guitar solo. Although, between the drugs and pain I wonder if I'll have the attention span to actually work on any of these things. What are peoples recovery experiences?

By the way, my dog's name is Connor. He's some kind of shepherd mutt that we picked up from a rescue society. He's the best dog I've ever known. He's about eight years old now but that photo is him @ 2. He still look about the same. We think he's part Australian shepherd, German shepherd, and some black lab (webbed feet and overly affectionate). He's a far cry from his sister, a Irish Wolfhound / Black Lab. She's lovable but dumb as a rock :) Connor on the other hand has been known to heard small children... Very useful at parties. I figure I'll have two very attentive furry couch buddies while going through all of this.

-Brian
 
Hi Brian,

I am 52 years old and I hope what I have to say is encouraging to you: I have recently (10/30/07) undergone an operation to replace my aortic valve and a section of aortic conduit, the same as you have expressed.

My operation went very well and I was only in the hospital for 5 days. Since coming home, the pain level has been minimal and I have only taken a total of 4 Tylenol's. I am now at day 16 from the procedure and am walking 2 to 3 miles per day. I can tell my millage will begin increasing rapidly as vitality is returning faster than I anticipated. I will probably return to work on a half-time basis in another week or so.

I have been fortunate in my process as I hope you will be too. I hope this info helps.

Mark
 
Brian, without complications, the usual stay in the hospital is about 5 days. Most have an appointment with their surgeons at 6 weeks (cardio before that) and then are dismissed by the surgeon to drive, go back to work (depending on the work) etc. Everyone experiences a different recovery- some feel full recovery takes up to a year, others much more quickly. We flew to our winter home at 7 weeks and took a 10 day vacation in Aruba at about 10 weeks. Dick was playing doubles in tennis and golf at 3 months.
 
I just recently joined the board here, and I think I'm different from many people who knew about an impending need for surgery. My operation was quite sudden, and I was in very bad shape for it. I was in the hospital about 3 weeks...1 week before surgery, and 2 weeks after. I spent 10 days in ICU.
I was home for Sept, Oct, went back to work part time in mid Nov. Full time December 1. Started agility classes again in late Nov, and ran our first agility trial 5 months after surgery, almost to the day. By the way, 14 months out now, I can now outrun the older dog, and can just about keep up with the speed demon 2 year old dog.
It's scary and it hurts, but Oh, to have my life back after nearly losing it! Priceless. :)
Take the 3 months off, don't rush your healing, take your meds and eat even if you don't want to those first few weeks. You'll be so much better this time next year!
 
Sounds similar to what I went through 18 months ago. No symtoms to speak of, went in they found an aneurysm (5.8 cm) and slightly enlarged heart aneurysm from the root to the top of the arch but not including the top. I knew since I was 4 I had a bicuspid valve.

Told me I needed surgery and it had to happen in the next 6 months and to not pick up anything heavier than a loaf of bread till I had the surgery.

I was in the hospital 7 days. It would have been less but I had a bout of afib a couple times while in. I was about to go home after 4 days when te 1st round hit.

As far as pain it was managable with the pills lol down to tylenol after 2 weeks, was told I could drive after 4 weeks and started working after 8.
Although I took it slow for a month

I am happy to be a card carrying member of the Medtronics Freestyle valve club :)

At 18 months I have no limits on what I do other than they told me not to pick up things heavier than 50# Which I will ask again about that at my next check up.
 
I was in the hospital a week and was told I'd be off work 10 - 12 weeks. I took the full 12. Like you, I'm involved in project work, and when I first found out I needed OHS (it was complete surprise as I had no heart problem history and was feeling fine) my first reaction was concern for the projects I was involved in. As it turns out, nobody is indispensable and the projects continued without me just fine.

It was about 18 months before I felt "fully" recovered to do everything I used to do with the same physical strength and stamina.

Best wishes and good luck.
 
Brian -

Have you met with Dr. Deeb?

Given your aneurism, the FIRST thing I would want to know from him is How Many Aneurism's he has repaired (last year, last 5 years) and the RESULTS.

I've become a BIG Believer in Multiple Opinions and have learned something NEW from Every Surgeon and Cardiologist I have interviewed.

I recommend getting a Second Surgical Opinion (or even a third). You may want to check out Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. One of our members claims they perform more Heart Surgeries than Cleveland Clinic! You may also want to get an opinion at the Cleveland Clinic.

MANY of our members have pointed out that the Most Important Consideration is to find a Surgeon with CONSIDERABLE EXPERIENCE in the Procedure YOU Need (and a Good Track Record!).

Bottom Line: Find someone you TRUST and then Get FIXED, the Sooner, the Better.

'AL Capshaw'
 
Welcome to this wonderful community!

So many great answers here. I would just like to address your not trusting doctors. First of all, I don't think many of us here do either!!! It's very unnerving to let go of personal control and allow ourselves to assume that some "professional" is going to get us out of our mess and leave us in good shape.

But here's the deal. You have to let go. You have to trust. Fear and anxiety will not assist you in this journey and you must find a calm and a resolve. A positive outlook, a smile and a wink to the professionals who will be escorting you through this....those things will make this all bearable. And successful.

You say you are a project manager. I am sure there are elements of trust in you that your clients must have in order for the job to be completed successfully. YOU have no doubt in your abilities......why should they? So definitely, do your homework about your surgeon. Speak to 2 or 3 if your insurance allows. Make sure he's done a lot of these procedures and is comfortable with the valve you have chosen. And then trust. Trust.

This isn't to say that you should blindly trust. Your wife will need to be a tough advocate throughout your hospital stay. If she has any instinct that anything is amiss she must speak up until she is heard. Most of us have lovely people watching over us, and truly amazingly caring and practically perfect hospital stays. But one must always have their "antennae" out..... :)

In preparation for recovery, you might want to read some of our lists in the resource/reference forum. What astounded me the most about the first few weeks was how little I could push, pull, reach, twist.....your strength is minimal for awhile. Coordination, alertness...all those things are fine and you are generally quite capable of taking care of necessary duties. But many of us could not even open up the refrigerator door those first few days. If you like to be fairly independent, make sure your "stuff" is brought down from high shelves, put close to the counter's edge, and not down in the depths of some cupboard or closet.

In the meantime, I hope you are avoiding anything which might spike your blood pressure.....no lifting, no real spicy foods, no intense movies and the like??

Keep us updated on your dates and choices.

Best wishes

Marguerite
 
Lots of new members on this thread!

Lots of new members on this thread!

Hope all goes well for you Brian; glad you found this terrific site pre-op. You won't be able to take much care of your pups for awhile after your surgery; my surgeon told me not to lift or push or pull more than 5 pounds for the first 8 weeks post-op. He also didn't want me driving for that time, although it was longer than most other recommendations I've read here. Bending was unpleasant for awhile also. Also avoid coughing and sneezing. One of our dogs is an Aussie Shep Mix too; she's just about the ugliest mutt ever seen but we love that dog dearly.

Welcome to the site Josh; glad you found the site and happy you're doing so well.

Glad all is going well for you Mark; sounds like things are going very well.

It was nice to read your post too Agilitydog.
 
Nice to hear from another PM type, I'm a Project Engineer. As you already know most projects have some kind of stress: cost, schedule, technical.... otherwise they wouldn't need us. Last year I had my mitral valve replaced and took a total of three months off, I was in ICU for the first 32 hours, and discharged from the hospital after 6 days. I guess I could have rushed back to work a bit faster but taking three months was a great help for me. Your millage may vary but I would caution you to take what ever time you need, especially if your going back in the meat grinder (again).

I'm not sure how long your Period of Performance (POP) is for your project but your family and your health is much more important. When I returned to work, my projects were still there and more or less doing fine. I missed some milestones meetings but all in all, work kept on going without me. I guess what I'm trying to say is first take care of that heart of yours, second take the time you need to recover (don't rush back), and lastly don't worry about work, it'll still be there in some shape or form.

By the way your two dogs will be great company at home, I know my two Akita's loved it when I spent 24/7 with them.
 
Take the 3 Months if You Can

Take the 3 Months if You Can

Brian, Welcome! Sounds like you are in a good place emotionally. I had some trouble with my short term disability insurance, and didn't get a payment until after I'd been back at work, but made good use of the 3 months. Hope things go even better for you! All the best, Brian
 
Welcome Brian. I was scared going in, but after surgery life is good. Your going to be ok.

Bob :D
 
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