21 June 2010 aortic valve replacement with possible ascending aorta replacement

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TauntT

VR.org Supporter
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2010
Messages
22
Location
Rocklin,CA
How do you control the fear? I discovered that I had a heart murmur in early March 2010 and now in 10 days I'm having OHS. I've been told that due to other issues that I have, I will not be able to use the mechanical valve and should opt for the bovine valve,(cow /pig who cares) but that in doing so I will have valve failure within 10-15 yrs. I do pretty well as long as family is around cause I crack jokes about it but, in the quiet wee hours the fears come back in full force. I know that I have this to do but I would really loveto find a way to go into surgery more positive

TauntT
 
Welcome to VR where we all have shared some of your fears and anxieties. I was one of the worst because I could imagine all sorts of terrible things. In fact, it didn't happen that way at all. Don't worry about your valve; no one can say how long it will last. Statistics apply well to groups of people but they cannot describe the individual experience. Your new valve (I have a bovine pericardial valve) is going to be a wonderful change from the old one. If it has to be replaced again, well, that is just something that must be dealt with when it comes. The wonderful thing is that you are going to be better after surgery and during recovery you will feel better and better as the days and weeks go by. Heart surgery for most of us, just isn't the traumatic experience that it used to be. Recovery turned out to be a very good experience for me and for many others. The thing to remember now is that your heart disease is the awful thing that is happening to you. You, however, are fortunate to live in this time and place when surgery can save your life and give you many healthy years to live that you would not have had. In two weeks, you will probably be home and in three weeks walking around your neighborhood surprising everyone.

Larry
 
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Welcome tauntT,

Well the good news is that for me, the anxiety was almost entirely pre op and lasted until about 4-5 days pre op. The causes for most of my anxiety were related to decisions, choice of valve, pre op tests, unkowns and the waiting game...try to keep distracted to keep it al together and use the time to prepare for everything you can prepare for. The more I learned the calmer i became.

For my education on valve choice, bio vs. mechanical, what could be medical other conditions, where surgeon would think bio is the only alternative and what might your age group be?

I am 56 and my case does seem somewhat special in that C-E magna bovine was my choice pre op, but for some reason St.Jude Epic porcine was choice at surgery for AVR and I have not yet been debriefed as to why the change...but there were some unkowns pre op ad I had given surgeon lattitude on whatever on making best choice while in surgery....not that it really makes a difference, cause what i have is working fine...but am curious as to why change in gameplan.

So get your rest pre op and do all you can to keep positive mindset, the statistics are very much in your favour.
 
I think the majority of us found that the stress and anxiety before surgery were actually much worse than the actual surgery and recovery itself. Just know that the odds for this surgery are VERY good and soon you'll be over that hump. I know my surgeon's office sent me some cd's that had all kinds of imagery stuff to help calm you down...I didn't use them much, but my husband did...lol! If all else fails and it just becomes too much, there are drugs that will help. I'm sure your Dr. would be happy to give them to you if you feel the need...I know I did!


Kim
 
I've always taken comfort in the fact the surgeons who do this are very good and serious about their work. Having your date means you must have found a surgeon you trust who has alot of experience in doing the surgery you need. Once the surgeon/valve choice is made you'll find the closer you get to the date the more accepting you are of what lies ahead. It's not as bad as you probably think it will be.
 
You'll find that the waiting is definitely the hardest part. Once you wake up in ICU or move to step-down, you'll realize that alot of that fear was wasted energy. For the immediate term leading up to your surgery - I was able to control the fear by convincing myself (which wasn't hard) that I had lined up the best surgeon possible and that he was going to do a great job. If you feel confident in your surgeon and hospital, put yourself in their hands and be convinced that they're going to do the job. Once they get you out of the OR alive, it's all up to you thereafter.
 
When I had my meeting with the surgeon he went over what was wrong with my heart and what he was going to do to fix it.He asked
me if I was scared? I said "hell yes ! ohs wouldnt you be? He said good- that I was serious about getting better and that if I wasnt scared
there would be something very wrong with me.So point is it is normal for you to feel this way but, it is a doable surgery and you will come out
in the end feeling much better and being alot healthier.My VR family told me first 3 days are the hardest. So I set 3 goals 1 day at a time to get to
day 4. I really did feel alot better at day 4.Make it to 1 week-again much improvement. And last make 30 days.Well I was ready to go back to work part time
at end of week 2.But, I got a-fib and had to chill for another 10 days.Point is I was feeling pretty good after 2 weeks- so will you.
 
hi there! i just had surgery may 21st and chose a bovine valve for myself. i have to tell you, i knew for 5 months that i would need surgery and the fear and anxiety from diagnosis to surgery was way worse then waking up from surgery until now. you will be fine! it is a scary thing. i thought i was going to end up canceling surgery out of fear i was so scared. i was like you, in front of family i would crack jokes about it. but by myself i was like oh my god what am i going to do, i can't believe this is real. i actually ended up blocking it out and pretending it wasn't real. if you have any questions please let me know!

take care

jackie
 
Well I guess with you making the trip one month before I make it is like having it scouted out for me isn't it? You know, where the potholes are already. lol Thanks for the words of encouragement.

TauntT
 
My fears were best resolved, by getting on this forum. It's a blessing at how these folks here are so supportive and totally understanding of what you're going through. My surgery is toward the end of June, and from what they tell me here, the very worst part is the wait time before the surgery. You will be taking care of, and if you need a little help, don't be afraid to ask your dr for some anti-anxiety pills. I do not like to take any med's, but I was not too shy to tell the dr that I would need something for my nerves. They have no problem whatsoever giving you something and I felt I need something for this period leading up to my surgery to help get me through, because I was a total basket case. That was before I found this forum, and since I got my prescription filled, I've only taken about 2 pills total. You'll be fine and you'll be glad when it's over with. Hang in there.
 
Gil

the mechanical valve will not work for me because i have some bleeding that takes place in my stomach and esophagas perioditicly and the Dr said that if i were on the anticoagulants it could exasserbate the problem and i would risk bleeding to death and not even know there was a problem. (problem solved/no anticoagulant) My age is ...as of April 1st...50yrs.(but always hoping for a few more)

TauntT
 
TauntT-I will be on the table as well on the 21st having AVR and having my Aorta reinforced with Dacron Strip. I am a bit nervous, but what has helped me is knowing that my quality of life will be much better once I get to the other side.

Good luck!
 
TauntT,

Thank you for the clarification on why bio valve as preferred choice.

You may be surprised at the number of people in your age group and younger that are choosing bio valves, even though they would not have a hemmoraging condition.

You may want to consider bio valve choice as a compromise and possibly have more discussion with surgeon as to bovine/porcine and why...you will after all be living with it and i for one welcome you to the bio valve club....am 56
 
Hi TauntT

I understand how you feel. I knew I had a heart murmur 4 years ago but was assured it would not bother me for 20 years! Guess that was a poor estimate. I found out 3 weeks ago I had Severe Aortic Valve Stenosis. So I am facing surgery on Aug 9. It seems like a long time to wait - so I understand how you felt and feel now. Not the best news to hear you have to have your heart repaired! Thanks to all the folks here, I feel much better about it all. Reading everyone's stories will give me something to do for the next 2 months.

Good Luck. I will be watching your post and will keep in in my thoughts and prayers.

Pat
 
TauntT - here's yet another voice (mine) that's just going to echo what everyone above is saying. The waiting is the hardest part (which is an old Tom Petty song I think).

There's a bunch of us on here that have just recently scouted the road ahead for ya, and it's nowhere near as bad over here on this side of the mountain as it is on the side you're on right now (the 'waiting room' side). And as you see above, there's a bunch of others that are there in the waiting room with you, including bean counter who is on your same date (pretty cool!). I'd recommend you & Bean stay in touch as you'll likely be pretty much on the same schedule (although there are always differences too) so you can compare notes (hey, are you having this pain - yea, my doc said it's normal, etc...). You don't have much more time to wait (which is good) and it will go fast. Stay busy with your regular life these last few days to keep your mind off things as much as you can. You'll be over here on this side very soon, and will likely be yet another voice echoing what we're telling you now to others, it's just nowhere near as bad as you were afraid it was going to be.

It's still a major surgery, but the surgeons and other docs/nurses and just the entire medical field is so advanced these days, it's just amazing! And we're very, very lucky to be going through this now, vs. 50 or 100 years ago, when would all have probably died as a result of having this condition. This surgery is going to give you many, many more years to come. There's also some promising things possibly coming down the pike (which you don't want to count on, but watch closely to see how they turn out) including (as I understand it) the possibility of replacing the valve via a catheter instead of open heart surgery. Again, no promises, but there's a chance that would be an option for you by the time you need your next one. Read, read, read and talk, talk talk to your medical professionals to see what options are for tissue (I understand some last longer than others, etc., but am not totally up to speed as I went the mechanical route).

If you haven't seen these in other posts yet, I'd recommend you go watch these short videos by a guy from England who video-taped his journey - they gave me more comfort before surgery that it's just not that bad... Keep posting questions as they come up before surgery, and give us updates afterwards. We all wait around like expectant parents waiting to hear from those that are at the top of the mountain (aka on the table) and about to come over to the other side! For example, Heartman (Mike) just had his surgery the other day and began posting updates a couple days ago. Go find his updates and read the replies and you'll get a better idea of this expectant parent phenominon ;) But don't rush anything - wait 'till you feel up to it before giving us updates, or have someone post an update for you. Best wishes!

Aririving home - 4 days after Surgery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaCvv...eature=related

1 week after surgery (3rd day being home) Note, he's really feeling great by this day, which I totally related to at about that same point
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5RdS...eature=related

2 Weeks after surgery
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kde95-mbwj4
 
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wow- i haven't written that post yet , because I am not completely confirmed - but it would read the same - 21st of June AVR with ascending anuerysm repair - I am right with you - on all the decisions and all the fear - I send you as much love as I have to spare!!!!!
 
There ya go - now you've all got 3 OHS buddies ;) Juile, Bean Counter and TauntT, all on the same day (assuming Julie's date gets confirmed). Very cool! I've only been on here since end of March, but first time I've seen 3 on same date! It's going to be like expecting triplets lol.
 
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