mikestorm
Member
Hello everyone. I found this forum back in the (very short) pre-surgery haze and didn't obtain my credentials till a few days after surgery. Today I feel well enough to post.
38 YO male diagnosed with BAV at birth. Was fairly good at keeping up with a cardiologist every 1-2 years, until around six years ago, when I decided that (very early 30s) I was going to live forever. My cardiologist at the time was particularly enamored with stress tests (I had many cardiologists as I've aged/moved) so (my words) trying to coax a heart attack out of me on a treadmill seemed counter-intuitive to the overall plan of longevity. Freed from the nuisance of facing up to my reality, I went on to carpe diem with abandon.
Fast forward six years later, and I'm now married with a newborn. I felt I owed it to my son to stick around for as long as I can, so promised my wife/son/mother/self I'd finally go back to see a cardiologist. Bear in mind up to this point I was still fully asymptomatic. Met with him on the 13th of December and thanks to my proclivity for frugality (read: I'm cheap) I asked for the echo before the year was out as my health insurance deductibles were all maxed out due to my son's birth. Had the echo on the 20th of December, and at approximately 5:45 PM that evening received a phone call that changed everything. My valve was still in fairly good condition (he confirmed when he listened to my heart) but I had profound abdominal aortic aneurysm (5.7-5.9 cm). "Alarming" was a word he used more than once, and said that surgery in the next 30 days was strongly recommended. Till surgery, although my blood pressure was good, I was placed on a beta blocker and told to take it easy.
The first week after hearing the news was the worst, as I had to now deal with anxiety attacks, which had the very unfortunate side effect of causing my heart to race (talk about a self fulfilling prophecy) but I found this site, and reading many posts, was comforted to learn so many others are going through what I am going through.
Additionally, I live just outside Boston where two of the top ten hospitals in the country exists to handle this sort of procedure, which was also a comfort. Specifically, I was referred to Brigham and Women's Hospital. My surgery happened on the 9th, with an On-X aortic valve plus aortic graft on the docket. Surgery (for the most part) I'm told was routine. Given my age and desire not to go through this again in any capacity, the mechanical valve seemed like the right choice for me, even with all the 'strings' attached to that decision. Could have been discharged as early as the 13th, but my temp spiked to 101.1 which caused me to be held for an extra day. Discharged yesterday and today will be meeting my visiting nurse for the first time.
Here are my questions:
1) It would seem I am a very barrel-chested individual. This could explain my asymptomatic nature given such a pronounced aneurism. However, due to the same, a night nurse divulged to me that they had a hell of a time buttoning me back up. They apparently snapped three titanium wires on my sternum. Moreover, I feel a very faint click in my chest when I reach a certain way. Unfortunately the click happens despite my strict adherence to the weight restriction, so I’m being extra careful in this regard. My question is, is this click normal at first?
2) When will the chest pain subside and I start feeling more like myself? Every day is an improvement, and right now I’m at 65% or so. In fact, only getting in and out of a horizontal position (in and out of bed) causes me to be in any material discomfort. Just wondering when this too won’t seem like such an ordeal.
3) I was adequately warned about hearing the valve tick by my surgeon. Does it really get better? I hope so. I heard it for the first time on day 3-4 and since then it's always there. I feel like Captain Hook being constantly reminded of his own mortality whenever he hears Tick Tock the croc. Just disconcerting is all.
4) Anything they don't tell you at the hospital I could be doing to expedite my convalescence? I gently nudged myself to eat in the hospital despite my very much not wanting to, and my appetite seems to already be on its return. I gently urged myself to walk as much as possible in the hospital as well and seemed to have been rewarded with some extra stamina. Lastly, while not depriving myself of sleep, I'm trying to gently nudge my circadian rhythm to something more conventional (vs sleep whenever over a 24 hour period like the first three days post op) and this seems to be producing positive results as well in the stamina department. Anything else I could be doing if I'm up to it?
I think that's it for now. Thanks in advance for any replies, and just want to reiterate how thankful I am for finding this site.
Mike
38 YO male diagnosed with BAV at birth. Was fairly good at keeping up with a cardiologist every 1-2 years, until around six years ago, when I decided that (very early 30s) I was going to live forever. My cardiologist at the time was particularly enamored with stress tests (I had many cardiologists as I've aged/moved) so (my words) trying to coax a heart attack out of me on a treadmill seemed counter-intuitive to the overall plan of longevity. Freed from the nuisance of facing up to my reality, I went on to carpe diem with abandon.
Fast forward six years later, and I'm now married with a newborn. I felt I owed it to my son to stick around for as long as I can, so promised my wife/son/mother/self I'd finally go back to see a cardiologist. Bear in mind up to this point I was still fully asymptomatic. Met with him on the 13th of December and thanks to my proclivity for frugality (read: I'm cheap) I asked for the echo before the year was out as my health insurance deductibles were all maxed out due to my son's birth. Had the echo on the 20th of December, and at approximately 5:45 PM that evening received a phone call that changed everything. My valve was still in fairly good condition (he confirmed when he listened to my heart) but I had profound abdominal aortic aneurysm (5.7-5.9 cm). "Alarming" was a word he used more than once, and said that surgery in the next 30 days was strongly recommended. Till surgery, although my blood pressure was good, I was placed on a beta blocker and told to take it easy.
The first week after hearing the news was the worst, as I had to now deal with anxiety attacks, which had the very unfortunate side effect of causing my heart to race (talk about a self fulfilling prophecy) but I found this site, and reading many posts, was comforted to learn so many others are going through what I am going through.
Additionally, I live just outside Boston where two of the top ten hospitals in the country exists to handle this sort of procedure, which was also a comfort. Specifically, I was referred to Brigham and Women's Hospital. My surgery happened on the 9th, with an On-X aortic valve plus aortic graft on the docket. Surgery (for the most part) I'm told was routine. Given my age and desire not to go through this again in any capacity, the mechanical valve seemed like the right choice for me, even with all the 'strings' attached to that decision. Could have been discharged as early as the 13th, but my temp spiked to 101.1 which caused me to be held for an extra day. Discharged yesterday and today will be meeting my visiting nurse for the first time.
Here are my questions:
1) It would seem I am a very barrel-chested individual. This could explain my asymptomatic nature given such a pronounced aneurism. However, due to the same, a night nurse divulged to me that they had a hell of a time buttoning me back up. They apparently snapped three titanium wires on my sternum. Moreover, I feel a very faint click in my chest when I reach a certain way. Unfortunately the click happens despite my strict adherence to the weight restriction, so I’m being extra careful in this regard. My question is, is this click normal at first?
2) When will the chest pain subside and I start feeling more like myself? Every day is an improvement, and right now I’m at 65% or so. In fact, only getting in and out of a horizontal position (in and out of bed) causes me to be in any material discomfort. Just wondering when this too won’t seem like such an ordeal.
3) I was adequately warned about hearing the valve tick by my surgeon. Does it really get better? I hope so. I heard it for the first time on day 3-4 and since then it's always there. I feel like Captain Hook being constantly reminded of his own mortality whenever he hears Tick Tock the croc. Just disconcerting is all.
4) Anything they don't tell you at the hospital I could be doing to expedite my convalescence? I gently nudged myself to eat in the hospital despite my very much not wanting to, and my appetite seems to already be on its return. I gently urged myself to walk as much as possible in the hospital as well and seemed to have been rewarded with some extra stamina. Lastly, while not depriving myself of sleep, I'm trying to gently nudge my circadian rhythm to something more conventional (vs sleep whenever over a 24 hour period like the first three days post op) and this seems to be producing positive results as well in the stamina department. Anything else I could be doing if I'm up to it?
I think that's it for now. Thanks in advance for any replies, and just want to reiterate how thankful I am for finding this site.
Mike