Aortic Valve Replacement

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Booshmeister

Good Evening

I was surfing for support and this seems to be a very good support page.

(To Jan: I am glad you are through yours and progressing well. I hope and pray you will continue to do well and heal completely)

I have Advanced Aortic Stenosis. I have known about my "murmer" for nearly 30 years. About 5 years ago I went to the emergency room because of a Vega Nerve attack (I didn't know until the staff doctor told me). He told me to get to a cardiologist soon. The cardiologist has been watching now for about 5 years. The last 3-4 months I have noticed a significant change in my breathing effort, particularly swimming or climbing stairs. The doctor confirmed it's time.

I had an angiogram the 31st and the coronary arteries look good.

My surgery is tentatively scheduled for the 19th of August.

I'm need to know which valve to choose. I'm 62 (the angiogram was my birthday present from the insurance company), 190 lbs )overweight but not obese), 69", semi-active (I swim 2-4 times a week), and walk 2-3 miles 2-3 times (depending on heat and meetings). My family (both sides) are fairly long lived to about late 80's or early 90's. My mother is 86, got a hip replacement 2 years ago and flys to Denver or here (Ogden Utah) two or three times a year.

I also am interested in all stories about recovery, both positive and negative. I believe I am above average in physical condition for AVR surgery patients if not the general age population.
 
Welcome, Booshmeister!

You've come to a good place -- lots of friendly folks with varied experiences and willing to share thoughts. Good support.

Sounds like your path is similar to mine. A doctor detected my murmur some 40 years before I had to have aortic valve and root replacement. I was 63 when that was done.

I agonized over the best valve choice for me, did a lot of reading, and made my choice. The surgeon left it up to me.

For starters, I suggest you go to "Valve Selection" and read the standing post (a "sticky") up near the top by Tobagotwo on the pros and cons of the tissue and mechanical options. Then by all means, ask any questions, think it through with us, etc. There are pluses and minuses for each choice -- however, as is often noted here, it is a blessing to have this technology and these choices. Whatever you choose will be a good choice.

So again welcome.

Maybe our great administrator, Ross, can transfer you to a new thread so mor emembers will know to welcome you properly.

Cheers,
 
Booshmeister said:
Good Evening

I was surfing for support and this seems to be a very good support page.

(To Jan: I am glad you are through yours and progressing well. I hope and pray you will continue to do well and heal completely)

I have Advanced Aortic Stenosis. I have known about my "murmer" for nearly 30 years. About 5 years ago I went to the emergency room because of a Vega Nerve attack (I didn't know until the staff doctor told me). He told me to get to a cardiologist soon. The cardiologist has been watching now for about 5 years. The last 3-4 months I have noticed a significant change in my breathing effort, particularly swimming or climbing stairs. The doctor confirmed it's time.

I had an angiogram the 31st and the coronary arteries look good.

My surgery is tentatively scheduled for the 19th of August.

I'm need to know which valve to choose. I'm 62 (the angiogram was my birthday present from the insurance company), 190 lbs )overweight but not obese), 69", semi-active (I swim 2-4 times a week), and walk 2-3 miles 2-3 times (depending on heat and meetings). My family (both sides) are fairly long lived to about late 80's or early 90's. My mother is 86, got a hip replacement 2 years ago and flys to Denver or here (Ogden Utah) two or three times a year.

I also am interested in all stories about recovery, both positive and negative. I believe I am above average in physical condition for AVR surgery patients if not the general age population.
Click to expand...

Welcome, I added you to the calendar for August 19th. Please let us know if that date changes. We hope we can ease this trip over the "mountain".
 
Welcome to this site. You definitely found the right place.! There is lots of great information, good support and encouragement from the members. Unfortunately, I don't have answers to your questions, (I am in the waiting mode) but wishing you all the best.
 
I had surgery on July 29th and feeling great, for me the waiting before surgery was the worse. I had a St-Judes mechanical put in, I was told by people that I looked better after surgery than before, so I guess that explains everything, good luck and will keep you in our prayers.

Lise
 
Welcome to VR. Glad you found us. For me recovery was all about patience as it seemed I recovered mentally much faster than I recovered physically. As a result, I'd tend to try to do more than I should have been doing, and your body will let you know it when you overdo it. The bottom line is to listen to your body and pace yourself accordingly. Recovery is different for everyone, so for some it's faster and others it's slower. Just keep in mind it's not a race and I'm sure you'll do fine. It took me about a year to "fully" recover and today I feel almost as good as new. I say almost as I'm unfortunately prone to keloids so my incision scar tissue continues to be a bit tender and itchy. Other than that, I feel great and my heart is functioning perfectly. Best wishes and good luck.
 
To answer your question about Valve Selection, I recommend that you click on the "Valve Selection" Forum, read the "sticky's" at the top of the listing, and browse through the posts listed in that forum (note you will need to expand the coverage dates - see bottom of the page - to look at older posts).

After you've learned about the differences between Mechanical and Tissue Valves, then you may want to check out the various manufacturers.

Feel free to ask more questions after as they come to mind.
 
Welcome!

My circumstances were roughly similar to yours in age, general health, activity level, and family longevity. My surgery was six months ago, and I'm doing great now. I had little pain post-surgery, had surgery Wed am and was discharged Sat pm. I had a pretty typical recovery path, a few discomforts, gradually getting stronger, a setback at 3 months from which I bounced back quickly. Having read so much on ValveReplacement.com really helped me know about what to expect.

Yes, read the stickies about valve selection. To me, the valuable lesson there was that here is no bad valve choice, you just need to understand the pros and cons of tissue versus mechanical, and decide which cons you'd rather live with.

If you have more specific questions, post them--there's a lot of experience here.

Best wishes,
Debby
 
Hi and Welcome to the VR community. Lots of wonderful, knowledgeable people here. I can't really advise you about the valve type, since i'm still waiting to have my valve taken care of. There are a lot of people who can advise you but, in the end, it's a personal choice. You're at the age where you could go either way (mechanical or tissue) and probably do okay with either one. Read all you can, talk with a good surgeon and weigh the pros and cons. Oh, and listen to the people here who have had experience with new valves.

Best wishes and lots of prayers coming your way for a successful surgery!
 
Welcome. You will find a ton of useful information in this forum. Snoop around and there is some great info in these threads. Good luck to you for your surgery and hope for a healthy and speedy recovery.
 
My update

My update

First to Ross. I'm still doing as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Thanks for moving me to a separate thread.

Then to each one of you that has posted here. This is a real uplifting experience to have so many that care a little or a lot. I know each of you either has gone through this or is preparing to go through the experience. I appreciate and thanke the Lord for providing you.

Phylis - you can move me to the 21st. I waited to long to get the 19th locked in. It would have been nice to not have those 2 extra days but we needed to make decisions on all of the factors.

My scheduled date is now August 21 (5 days and counting). I tentatively chose the tissue but I talked to my daughter's boss's father Thursday. He had a St. Judes put in 14 years agos and is doing extremely well. He's in the same age grouping as me (62 and still counting.) and very active. My wife also gave the opinion that the advantage of not having to replace it in 10-15 years when I'm older and more frail should be be counted.

My hospital is McKay-Dee in Ogden Utah. My surgeon, Dr. J. Goff does about 20 to 30 valve jobs a year and I feel very comfortable with him. He spent over 2 hours with us on Monday answering questions (I downloaded from here) and discussing statistics on dangers and mortality. My cardiologist, Dr. S. Colado, has been seeing me for 5 years and I feel comfortable with his analysis. I did get copies of my recent echo reports and the most recent echo itself and had Dr. M. Diehl at Ogden Regional look at them. He confirmed Dr. Colado and said the operation is necessary and now is a good time.

Although my general state-of-mind is pretty good in the daytime, I am starting to have a little trouble sleeping. I know that it is the anticipation kicking in. Since it's only 5 days I'll probably survive until the operation without asking for sleeping pills. I feel this is a pretty normal state of mind for something of this magnitude.

I will try to keep this updated as it goes along.
 
Just keep on talking to us until then and please have someone let us know how it goes when it's over. We go nuts waiting for the patients condition afterwards like expectant parents.

The unknown and uncontrollable is what makes our minds go crazy. This is one of those times. You'll most likely come through just fine. It's not easy, but it's doable and certainly life saving. :)
 
"Although my general state-of-mind is pretty good in the daytime, I am starting to have a little trouble sleeping. I know that it is the anticipation kicking in. Since it's only 5 days I'll probably survive until the operation without asking for sleeping pills. I feel this is a pretty normal state of mind for something of this magnitude."

yup, that about sums it up ! I was terrified ! it's been nearly a year now, and if I hadn't gone and got it done, I more than likely wouldn't be here now . . .


The wait is the worst. I know it doesn't matter how often you hear it, but the wait is the worst. After the wait, recovery is (usually) a walk in the park, although there can be some speed bumps in the road. I was off pain killers (except OTC Tylenol) by the time I got home, and was working from home (in PJS and between naps) a mere 7 days after surgery - and trust me, I am not related at all to Superbob !!

Take care, rest and relax as much as you can and remember - the wait is the worst !
 
Hello from just a tish north of where you are - the southern end of Willard. You are in good hands with Dr. Goff. He wasn't my surgeon but I know several people who have been in his capable hands!

Before you know it, your surgery will be over and you will be on the road to recovery.

If you want to chat - send me a PM and I'll give you my phone number.
 
Go ahead and get the sleeping pills. It's really a good idea to be rested going in, and you'll probably want them after, as sleeplessness is a common problem post-surgery. Nobody is awarding points for toughing it out. Pre-surgery sleeping pill prescriptions are pretty normal.

Best wishes, you're almost there!

Debby
 
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