new member questions

[srbouska]

Hey there all,
first of all I want to say wow this forum is great. It helps to have such forums like this especially for such complicated procedures where not a lot of information is given *voluntarily* through the hospitals.

A little background about myself I have congenital heart defect (or had i should say ) I had two surgeries before i was 5 years old (transposition of the greater arteries) which fixed one of my defects.
Everything was fine until i turned 24 and had an MRI done for the first time. The Cardiologist found a 6.1 cm annuerysm on my aorta right by the heart also a bicusped valve . So in September 2007 I went in for surgery which gave me a mechanical valve and a aortic graft. After the surgery in the ICU I had a situation where i felt as if something by my heart "moved' i dunno how to explain it other then that, right after i felt that i got really dizzy and my heart rate/ blood pressure jumped to 180 and obviously was injected with some meds that brought my rate/pressure down, no one there could tell me what happened or what that feeling was.
I went through recovery fine until about 3 months after being released I started getting really sharp pains that seem to resonate from my chest on the left side up into my shoulder. it never lasted for more then a second but I had a lot of them.
My cardiologist told me they were spasm because my heart was healing, which I accepted, they slowly went away and now recently again (another 3 months later) i'm getting the same pains but not as frequent.
ive gone in for my follow up with the cardiologist/surgeon and had an echo and all that and everything turned out fine. I Just get really worried sometimes when i feel those pains because they really hurt (even though they dont last long) and startle me enough to take my breath away.
Has anyone ever had this happen with the sharp chest pains that dont last long?

 

[Karlynn]

Welcome! I'm glad you found us. How often to you get these pains? I'm wondering if there's some small nerve involvement? You had an echo done - did they do a CT too? It's not usually a normal follow-up test, but with the pains it might be warranted.

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome to the VR community, especially a fellow "Canuck". Sorry for the circumstances, though.

Not sure if this is what you are experiencing but I get occasional sharp pains which I attribute to nerve issues. It feels like sharp needles prickling me around the incision area. I feels skin level as opposed to deeper (internal).

 

[Freddie]

Welcome Neighbor, from Saskatoon to Winnipeg.

I too have felt some sharp pains that didn't last long about 6 or 7 months post-op. Doctor said that it was "most likely due to nerves and mussels trying to heal" I only noticed these little sharp pains when I was sitting and relaxing.

But as the saying goes around here......"when in doubt, get it checked out - rather be safe than sorry"

Welcome aboard to this amazing site

 

[netmiff]

welcome

welcome

just wanted to say HI to a fellow Canuck - even though you are actually a lot further away than a lot of our American friends here.

Glad you found the site, there is a wealth of knowledge here, but sorry about the circumstances.

 

[srbouska]

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks a lot for all the warm welcome.

I as well was told it had to do with the muscles healing. My echo I had was in January and it does still happen. I havent been feeling it half as badly as before but it does seem like maybe "muscles healing'' could be it. I had quite a few of them but the longer it gets from the surgery the better I feel! I"m glad to have met everyone on here and appreciate the help, it does help to know that i wasnt the only one to have them and knowing that were all still kicking makes the pains not as alarming hehe. Have a great weekend all!