18 months later

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Nikkilt

New member
Joined
Jun 6, 2018
Messages
1
Location
Uk
Hi my partner had aortic valve replacement surgery 18 months ago and he is still in some pain with his chest and he is really depressed as he cant seem to do everything he used to do can anybody please make any suggestions of how I can help him.
 
Nikkit: your description concerns me. Is this pain in his sternum - where they cracked his chest? If so,maybe it didn't heal completely or properly? Or is it IN his chest? In either case, I'd have the cardiologist (or surgeon) check it. It's not worth messing around with or delaying to find out what's going on.

As far as depression goes - some cardiac medications can cause depression as a side-effect. Check with the prescribing doctor and see if this could be an issue and if, perhaps, the physician may consider changing to a medication with fewer side effects or, perhaps, reducing the dose.

And as far as not being able to do everything he used to do -- if your partner has a problem with healing (or perhaps a lingering infection) he won't have the energy to do all that he used to do.

Also - we have members here who've done all kinds of things - Marathon running, road racing, and other highly physical activities. They don't (or shouldn't) play football because of the risk of head impacts, but seem to do almost everything else.

But, even if he can't do all the things that he used to do, he should have many more health years ahead of him than he would have had without having the AVR. Sometimes there may be a bit of a tradeoff that isn't fully explained pre-op -- but it's a tradeoff that's well worth the cost.

Again - consult with the Cardiologist or surgeon about this. There may be a problem that can be addressed -- but only if they know about it.
 
Hi
Hi my partner had aortic valve replacement surgery 18 months ago and he is still in some pain with his chest and he is really depressed as he cant seem to do everything he used to do can anybody please make any suggestions of how I can help him.

I suspect he's suffering from post surgical depression (perhaps exacerbated by or exacerbating his views of the pain in his chest). This often goes undiagnosed (depression) even though its well understood.

Its not "all in his head" as its at its foundations chemical (or at least can be). I'd strongly advise you seek medical guidance with that point in the main dialog.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3849933/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/aortic-valve-replacement/recovery/
the pain in the chest could be anything from wires being irritating through to cartilage issues. There are some members here (including me) who've had this at various times in AVR (didn't manifest in my 3rd for long but in my 2nd for a bit.

Best Wishes
 
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