27 year old british Pro wrestler, starting to log my road to recovery

[britwrestler]

Hi all,

Let me set the story before i begin to update my progress!

So i am a 27 year old British pro wrestler. I am 6ft 4" and before surgery i weighed around 105kg/ 235 lbs ish ( i think ). I had a body fat % of around 12% and was extremily physically fit, powerful, and strong ( without blowing my own trumpet and sounding arrogant!).
up until i got into pro wrestling ( at the age of 26 ) i was an active serving royal marines commando, i had served from the age of 17 including two combat tours of afghanistan, and various active roles around the globe. Needless to say my fitness levels were exceptional.

So i passed a try out for a sport company in the USA, and during the final medical screening, they discovered i have a bicuspid aortic valve, which was leaking. This had caused my aorta to dilate and my left ventrical to enlarge slightly. They told me it needed fixing before i could take the job in the USA.
This was a huge shock. I have never experienced any symptoms or side effects of my condition, and i literally had no idea.
I got my head around the problem and decided i needed to get it fixed asap. I decided to use a surgeon called Mr Birdi, at the london key hole heart clinic. I also paid privately for the surgery, as the wait using the national health service in the Uk was long. I had been told to stop hitting the gym so hard and to stop my passion of pro wrestling until i was fixed and healed. Waiting wasnt an option.

I went into surgery on the 13th Jan, and the operation was a success. I had a valve sparring aortic root replacement, with a full sternotomy. I chose to either have a tissue valve, or my valve re suspended as i wasnt prepared to take warfarin just yet, as i didnt want to stop pro wrestling just yet. I ended up having my valve resuspended and the surgeon says this will last me a good 10 years. I now do not have any leak.
My aortic root was replaced and i have a daqron tube in place.

So its 3 weeks and one day since my surgery. I wouldve started this blog earlier, but my eyes have been blurry up until now ( i guess due to the heart and lung machine ) and i have been getting migranes due to this. So i avoid using my computer.
That has since completely stopped.... so here i am.

I am walking around, and getting stronger by the day, im doing tasks round the house and getting bits and pieces done. I still get tired easily and i guess thats to be expected. I havent got distances walked yet, but will soon log them down. Im feeling happy, and positive and have a great wife helping me out, and apart from a little pain every now and then, im great. I dont take pain killers anymore unless im particularly bad. Even then im taking only paracetemol and maybe a codein.

It took me until around 4 - 5 days ago to get my apetite back. I went from eating 4,000 cal a day to hardly anything! its not where it was but im eating more and more each day.
Needless to say the surgery has changed my body no end. Ive lost a lot of weight. At first it was annoying, but now im just looking forward to the day i can get to the gym and start piling back the weight and muscle.

The doctors at the sports company have said after a full recovery i can take my job in the usa. Time will tell. At the moment im just concentrating on getting better!

I have read most of the posts on the active liftestyle forums, and in particular 'thegymguy' has been very inspirational. I hope i can log my progress and feelings just aswell, and also help any younger people who are finding themselves needing this surgery.

sorry if this post is random and disjointed. i hope over time it'l take an easier form!

mike

 

[neil]

welcome aboard mike, you sound to be doing just great,

 

[AZ Don]

Welcome to the forum. I also had a valve sparing root (and ascending) aortic aneurysm repair. That was in late May. By 2-3 months after I was pretty much back to normal and now almost completely.

I still get tired easily and i guess thats to be expected.

Very common and possibly due to anemia, which is very common after such a surgery.

 

[Tirone]

Hi Mike

If everything went well till now, chances are good that it will stay like this. I'm just a couple of weeks ahead of you. Had a David procedure beginning of December and was very active until then. Around 1-2 weeks postoperative I was 18 lbs lighter than before. Finally at around week 5-6 I a started to gain some weight again. Since I started to train my upper body last week (with minimal weights only) I gained another 4 lbs within 1 week, and it's not fat.

I constantly tried to do a little bit more than I felt comfortable with, while following the advice of my cardiologist to not overdo it in the first 3 months. Once the sternum is healed and your heart is doing fine you can start to push it again! I'm looking forward to hear more about your recovery.

This was my training: http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?42497-8-weeks-postop-update-back-in-the-gym!

 

[Agian]

You younger guys are an inspiration. I was a shithead when I was a young man and there is no way I would have coped so stoically. Two combat tours!
Wishing you the very, very best.

 

[TheGymGuy]

Hey Mike,

Like yourself I was in a reasonable decent shape before the surgery - 198 lbs (90kg), 11-14% bodyfat (do not recall now). I lost close to 20 lbs (9kg) in about 3 weeks following the surgery. My surgeon has warned me that when the body is in the "flight or fight" mode you will shed lots of lean mass. Boy, did I try to fight it. I force fed myself daily, extra protein, clean food, some extra carbs. I still packed food in, but since I could only walk and the body was "freaked out" about all the broken bone and torn tissues (surgery, right?) it still chose to shed lots of weight. Took me about 2-3 months to put all the mass and then some back on. It is true what they say, old muscle comes back fast, and of course with that some new muscle and fat came back too

So, where do you go now? I say, you do what you know how to do best (and, looks like you are doing already). Fight daily, extra bite, extra step, extra sleep, extra protein shake. Keep as much chemicals out of your body as possible. Supplement with multivitamins, and keep all your sources of nutrition clean. Also, try to get off as much drugs/medicines as possible - work with your doctors.

Last thing, you mentioned you feel a little tired, if they have you on "metoprolol" it has that effect. Though, you can still bring a friend or so and go for a long walk / speed walk if weather permits. Listen to your body, take breaks, but increase that distance daily.

Best,
GymGuy

 

[Lynlw]

Hi Brit! Welcome, Sorry about the reason, but it probably turned out a Blessing having the testing to work in the US so they caught everything before it was too bad. My son is close to your age, he'll be 26 in April and has had quite a few heart surgeries. Tell you what, when you work hard and start to wrestle in the US, let us know when you are near Philly and we will go cheer you on...Now isnt that something to look forward to that makes it all worth it
Good luck, if you have any questions ask away
Lyn

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Mike - welcome from a fellow Brit. I had my bicuspid aortic valve replacement a week before yours (where did you have yours done ? I had mine at St Anthony's). I might be a woman but before surgery I was doing serious weight lifting - not girlie weight lifting though not for competition but just to get strong for myself - and was very, very fit. I had good muscles and not much fat. After surgery my stomach/gut siezed up (I've written about it in post-surgery thread) - and in the space of three weeks lost 4 kilos which has put me seriously underweight. And a lot of my muscle has been 'catabolised' by my body - I am so upset about it. Gastrodoc said problems related to surgical 'insult', pain meds and anaesthesia. To help regain weight I am now having lots of small amounts of fat and protein rich foods every one and a half to two hours. I only eat organically reared meat so that is superior nutritionally, wild fish, fresh eggs, full fat yoghurt, vegetable soups, also lot of coconut oil and butter and cream - and sometimes high cocoa chocolate (can't eat grain or starchy foods due to diabetes/coeliac - but that's another story and another restriction). Endocrinoligst also suggested adding salt as my sodium levels were low and that doesn't help matters. I think it will be a long process.

I got migraine auras for several weeks after surgery, by that I mean zigzagging patterns of light in my vision which normaly prestage a migraine headache, but I never got any of the headaches. I still get silver spots occasionally floating in my vision which I understand is due to the heart lunch machine - little bubbles of air ?

I feel very tired too. I am walking in the living room - too cold to go outside especialy with this weight loss - also doing shoulder and neck exercises and going upstairs multiple times to go to the loo. Heart makes horrible loud noise even though it's a tissue valve I got. My legs are still very strong - thank goodness - and I have never had any problems post surgery getting up from sittng or squatting down to pick things up off the floor which is a good thing about my weight lifting that I did not lose, though I can see some muscle has gone from my legs

 

[SumoRunner]

I got migraine auras for several weeks after surgery, by that I mean zigzagging patterns of light in my vision which normaly prestage a migraine headache, but I never got any of the headaches.(

They're called silent migraines and I've had them from time to time as far back as I can remember. I never get headaches from them either and long ago, even before I knew what they were, learned to simply ignore them.

 

[bocco]

Hi Brit,

I dropped about ten pounds after my surgery and I got back in the gym at about 5 weeks. I was 55 at the time of the surgery. 203 lbs and about 13% body fat.

The lack of appetite goes along with the lack of activity. I would bet that comes back in a hurry.

At first I focused on cardio at the gym because I was concerned about the sternotomy. As that stated feeling better I added in some leg and back work and avoided chest for a while. Start with the little weights and add as it feels good. listen to your body. If it hurts move to lighter weights. As things feel better add protein and more weight and before you know it Bob's your uncle once again.

It's been almost 2 years and I'm not quite back the the weight I was lifting before the surgery but I'm also 57 now and I'm sure that has something to do with it.

This is a great forum for folks like us that really want to get back to life we had.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Gary

 

[Duffey]

Hi Mike, and welcome. I look forward to reading more of your posts as you continue on the road to recovery.

 

[kernow61]

Hi mike,
Nice to see another bootneck on board.
Myself 78-83
123 troop ctc

I too was shocked to find out i had bicupsid valve and severe regurgitation.i decided too put off surgery as long as poss but am now getting close to surgery.
I'm not nearly as big as you....or as young and fit.. But i do try and keep fit...nowt like bottom field stuff but i run, bit of weights,swimming.
Reckon i could still pass BFT and nine miler times! !
Interesting to hear about valve suspension,not been mentioned to me (maybe cause of my age..53..) but iam thinking tissue rather than mechanical due to lifestyle.

Glad to hear your doing ok.. I will be following your training progress closely. ?so keep posting !

Once a royal always a royal!

Atb
Keith

 

[kernow61]

Ps.
What sports company ....... Not Xe! !

 

[pellicle]

Hi there Mike and welcome

So i am a 27 year old British pro wrestler.

I see you and the GymGuy have already become acquainted, so that's great.

I got my head around the problem and decided i needed to get it fixed asap.

an excellent common sence approach.

I had a valve sparring aortic root replacement, with a full sternotomy. I chose to either have a tissue valve, or my valve re suspended as i wasnt prepared to take warfarin just yet,

Fully understand, given the parameters I'd agree it was your best call. Aside from the parameters you've mentioned I'll also toss in that in the future technology is likely to develop better treatments, so its likely that it will only get better. Such things on the horizon will be things like:
* possibility of better TAVI (although there are limits such as valve diameter which put a lid on the capacity for that)
* better mechanical valves which may not require anticoagulation (see ATS Forcefield)
* better anticoagulation management.

, but my eyes have been blurry up until now ( i guess due to the heart and lung machine ) and i have been getting migranes due to this. ...
That has since completely stopped.... so here i am.

mine did the same, as noone told me diddly about it I assumed it was because I was getting old and this was it for my close vision ...

I have had a longer surgical / medical 'career' (as a patient) and have grown up with my condition and been operated on too many times for my preferences. This is not to say I was not as active as possible but is to say I'm not in your league.

My first OHS was the valve sparing type of repair, I was 9

My second OHS was a valve / root replacement which was a homograft (somebody elses valve), that was when I was 28.

I was doing well until 48 when I was diagnosed with an aneurysm which was critical. This brings me to my first point: the importance of regular checkups. I knew my body well and from after my 1992 surgery (to replace my valve) I had yearly checkups and nothing much happened, so after ten or so years I just drifted off from it.

As I train for skiing (cross country back country skiing) I had noticed that my fitness was dropping and my HR felt strange to me. I finally dragged my arse into a echo expecting to here "its leaking again" and was given the extra news (oh, and it was leaking again).

With respect to this if you don't mind an analogy with regards to your recovery I'd put it like this:
When I ski for training I ski about 15km (like yesterday 2.5 hours no tracks out on the lake, back through the forest) I try to get the best time I can. This means
* no wasted energy
* good consistent technique

if I kick back harder than optimal my kick slips and I do not go ahead and just wear myself out faster - resulting in longer times or not being able to make the distance (also longer time ;-)

This is true very much in recovery ... there will come a point where you feel better - push harder - over do it - suffer a setback.

So consistent and steady wins the race.

Also, I'd say its possible you'll need another surgery, so With respect to your next surgery, and taking consideration your interests I will say I've had good value from an Homograft (or Allograft is now commonly used). I can also show the results from the team who did my operation in Australia:

1,022 patients (males 65%; median age 49 years; range: 1-80 years) received either a subcoronary (n = 635), an intraluminal cylinder (n = 35), or a full root replacement (n = 352). There was a unique result of a 99.3% complete follow up at the end of this 29-year experience.

The study aim was to elucidate the advantages and limitations of the homograft aortic valve for aortic valve replacement over a 29-year period

Freedom from reoperation for structural deterioration was very patient age-dependent. For all cryopreserved valves, at 15 years, the freedom was
47% (0-20-year-old patients at operation),
85% (21-40 years),
81% (41-60 years) and
94% (>60 years).

Root replacement versus subcoronary implantation reduced the technical causes for reoperation and re-replacement (p = 0.0098).

The data looks better at first glance for the >60 years group until you look at how many died (and thus did not need reoperation) so if you go in again under 40 and want a tissue valve I would look carefully at a cryopreserved human tissue valve put in by an experienced team. (and I use the word team not just the surgeon)

Currently I'm on a mechanical as after my 3rd OHS the surgeon said to me that a 4th redo would be undesirable. As it happens my 3rd OHS was undesirable but that's a different story if you want to PM me about it.

Best Wishes

Recover well and get out there and enjoy life.

 

[neil]

hi keith welcome fellow brit, what part of cornwall you from? we go to to newquay every year and love it,

 

[kernow61]

Hi neil,
Just up the road.....bude.
Little bit quieter up here.....and better surf !
Had some huge storms and surf last cpl weeks. Towan beach ( newquay aquarium ) took bit of a beating.

 

[britwrestler]

Wow thanks for the replies! great advice from everyone and very welcoming. Always nice to see a fellow bootneck! everywhere i go, weather it be virtually or physically theres always a bootneck kicking around!

Its going to be hard for me to reply to everyone! but thankyou all for a positive reply!

I will be taking everything on board, and checking back on any updates. Ive posted another update. Not much to report as im doing well.

thank you all, keep well!