R
richie rich
Hi everyone,
I am going in for my AVR on Dec. 26th with Dr. Stephen Colvin at NYU. He wil be doing the minimally invasive surgery on me and I have finally made a decision in regard to which valve I will be getting. My first chiocie is the Medtronic Mosaic pig valve with plan B being a St. Jude mechanical.
So far facing the prospect of surgery has been easy. The hard part has been the valve selection. When I started doing research 3 years ago ( when my AI was discovered) I was in favor of the Ross. When I joined the site in Novemeber I was still in favor of the Ross. Then I wanted a mechanical. Then I finally decided on a tissue. My decision wasn't easy and it still may not matter in the end if they cant implant the tissue.
I am fortunate to live near NYC so I have all kinds of options available without having to travel. In the end I decided against the Ross because I have reguritation in 3 of my four valves. The only valve that doesn't have regurg. is my pulomnary. I was able to meet with Dr. Paul Stelzer had Beth Israel. He has performed over 335 RP's and is probably the most experienced surgeon on the east coast when it comes to the RP. Two of the surgeons that I met ( who are highly regarded in NY , Dr. Damus & Dr. Colvin also perform the RP. Combined they have done 45 RP's. The RP should be done by the most expirienced surgeon possible. Dr. Stelzer is a wonderful man who took the time to sit down with myself and my wife and explain everything to us. He also has a great sense of humour. He took us down to the ICU and answered all of our questions. Unfortunately I choose not to do the RP because it was my gut feeling that eventually my new aotic valve would regurg. down the line and I would be more likely to need a operation again down the road. Stezler felt that it was possible that my new aortic valve could regurg. since my tissue is probably softer and thus more likely to shrink in the new position. My feelings were that if re-op was going to be an issue down the road then why play around with two valves ( aortic & pulmoniary ) when only one needs to be replaced. Anyone considering the RP should definitly go see Stelzer. Slyvia's husband used Stezler and I know they were extremely happy with him.
I went to see Dr. Colvin at NYU this week and we discussed the minimal invasive. This surgery requires entry thru the right breast area and they do not go in thru the sternum thus no breakage of my breastbone. Prior to meeting Colvin I really didn't give this much thought but after thinking about it I realized that this was very appealling to me. I am a big guy ( 5' 11" 260 lbs) who is very active. It will take my chest longer to heal then the average person. I know my body and myself. I plan on finishing all of the renovations on my house this spring and I wil be playing soccer. Even though the docs and my family will be telling me to take it easy, my mind and heart will be pushing my limits thus I will be pushing my body hard. I am not scaried of opening my chest. I just like the prospect of not doing it and recovering faster. Now since there are nerves in you chest muscle I am also assuming that the pain will still be there but it will be a different type of pain since it will be affecting my nerves and not my breastbone. The outcome of this pain remains to be felt. I also plan on going to Disney with my family on Feb. 1, 2003. 4 weeks post op. Is it feasbile? All depends on how I feel but we will not cancel until the last moment if necessary. I feel that this trip will give me hope during the first month when the pain of the surgery will be the worst. I know that heart surgey can led to some depression and I feel that the trip will keep me positive. My goal is to be on the Dumbo ride with my daughter and son. I will probably skip Space Mountain and some of the more extreme rides.
After discussing with my wife all of my opitions we feel that the tissue valve is the way to go. I am 32 years old. Very active with 2 young kids. At first I wanted no part of a re-op but you never know what can happen in your life. At 32 years old it is extremely likely that I will need a re-op one day no matter what valve I chose. The mechanicals are made for life put there is absolutely NO proof that they will last for my remaining life ( 70 years) because no valve has been around for longer than 40 years. My wife has a blood clotting disorder ( we didn't know about this until my son died this past July ) and she fears Coumdin. I personal don't think that it is a big deal and if I wind up with a mechanical then that will be great too because either way the replacement of my valve with any valve will prolong my life and that is all that real matters.
The Mosaic pig valve has a expected life span of 25 plus years. I'll be happy if it gets me to the 47-52 year range. At that time then I can re-evalute my life and base my decision on the current status of my life style, valve opitions and medical advances.
So wish me good luck next week. I chose Dec. 26th becuase I figured that I would have less time to worry about the surgery. X-mas will be fun and then the next day I wake up and go for surgery. I just hope my wife, mother and the rest of my family holds up. I have no fear right now and I hope to remain that way for the next week. My mother and wife are in bad shape. They fear the worst and I don't blame them. The last six months have been very bad. My wife's pregancy was very difficult and eventually ended with the death of our baby Matthew the day after my daughter's B-day. My wife almost died in the hospital and was in DIC and they could stop her bleeding . Then we found out she had a growth in her brain ( the general feeling is that it is not cancerous, she will get checked again In Feb. ) and then we find out that I need surgery. I guess the reason why I have no fear about my surgery is because I feel that I have to stay strong for my family and can't think negatively.
I am sorry that this post is sooooooooooo long. I justed started writing and I couldn't stop.
I promise that I will keep everyone update on my progress and I want to thank everyone who has helped me during the past month. I hope to be home for my birthday on the 30th if not then for New Years Eve. It would be nice to start the year on a fresh note. And if I can't be home before the New Year than thats' OK too I will just force my family to trek into the city and throw me a party in the hospital.
Take care everyone,
Rich
I am going in for my AVR on Dec. 26th with Dr. Stephen Colvin at NYU. He wil be doing the minimally invasive surgery on me and I have finally made a decision in regard to which valve I will be getting. My first chiocie is the Medtronic Mosaic pig valve with plan B being a St. Jude mechanical.
So far facing the prospect of surgery has been easy. The hard part has been the valve selection. When I started doing research 3 years ago ( when my AI was discovered) I was in favor of the Ross. When I joined the site in Novemeber I was still in favor of the Ross. Then I wanted a mechanical. Then I finally decided on a tissue. My decision wasn't easy and it still may not matter in the end if they cant implant the tissue.
I am fortunate to live near NYC so I have all kinds of options available without having to travel. In the end I decided against the Ross because I have reguritation in 3 of my four valves. The only valve that doesn't have regurg. is my pulomnary. I was able to meet with Dr. Paul Stelzer had Beth Israel. He has performed over 335 RP's and is probably the most experienced surgeon on the east coast when it comes to the RP. Two of the surgeons that I met ( who are highly regarded in NY , Dr. Damus & Dr. Colvin also perform the RP. Combined they have done 45 RP's. The RP should be done by the most expirienced surgeon possible. Dr. Stelzer is a wonderful man who took the time to sit down with myself and my wife and explain everything to us. He also has a great sense of humour. He took us down to the ICU and answered all of our questions. Unfortunately I choose not to do the RP because it was my gut feeling that eventually my new aotic valve would regurg. down the line and I would be more likely to need a operation again down the road. Stezler felt that it was possible that my new aortic valve could regurg. since my tissue is probably softer and thus more likely to shrink in the new position. My feelings were that if re-op was going to be an issue down the road then why play around with two valves ( aortic & pulmoniary ) when only one needs to be replaced. Anyone considering the RP should definitly go see Stelzer. Slyvia's husband used Stezler and I know they were extremely happy with him.
I went to see Dr. Colvin at NYU this week and we discussed the minimal invasive. This surgery requires entry thru the right breast area and they do not go in thru the sternum thus no breakage of my breastbone. Prior to meeting Colvin I really didn't give this much thought but after thinking about it I realized that this was very appealling to me. I am a big guy ( 5' 11" 260 lbs) who is very active. It will take my chest longer to heal then the average person. I know my body and myself. I plan on finishing all of the renovations on my house this spring and I wil be playing soccer. Even though the docs and my family will be telling me to take it easy, my mind and heart will be pushing my limits thus I will be pushing my body hard. I am not scaried of opening my chest. I just like the prospect of not doing it and recovering faster. Now since there are nerves in you chest muscle I am also assuming that the pain will still be there but it will be a different type of pain since it will be affecting my nerves and not my breastbone. The outcome of this pain remains to be felt. I also plan on going to Disney with my family on Feb. 1, 2003. 4 weeks post op. Is it feasbile? All depends on how I feel but we will not cancel until the last moment if necessary. I feel that this trip will give me hope during the first month when the pain of the surgery will be the worst. I know that heart surgey can led to some depression and I feel that the trip will keep me positive. My goal is to be on the Dumbo ride with my daughter and son. I will probably skip Space Mountain and some of the more extreme rides.
After discussing with my wife all of my opitions we feel that the tissue valve is the way to go. I am 32 years old. Very active with 2 young kids. At first I wanted no part of a re-op but you never know what can happen in your life. At 32 years old it is extremely likely that I will need a re-op one day no matter what valve I chose. The mechanicals are made for life put there is absolutely NO proof that they will last for my remaining life ( 70 years) because no valve has been around for longer than 40 years. My wife has a blood clotting disorder ( we didn't know about this until my son died this past July ) and she fears Coumdin. I personal don't think that it is a big deal and if I wind up with a mechanical then that will be great too because either way the replacement of my valve with any valve will prolong my life and that is all that real matters.
The Mosaic pig valve has a expected life span of 25 plus years. I'll be happy if it gets me to the 47-52 year range. At that time then I can re-evalute my life and base my decision on the current status of my life style, valve opitions and medical advances.
So wish me good luck next week. I chose Dec. 26th becuase I figured that I would have less time to worry about the surgery. X-mas will be fun and then the next day I wake up and go for surgery. I just hope my wife, mother and the rest of my family holds up. I have no fear right now and I hope to remain that way for the next week. My mother and wife are in bad shape. They fear the worst and I don't blame them. The last six months have been very bad. My wife's pregancy was very difficult and eventually ended with the death of our baby Matthew the day after my daughter's B-day. My wife almost died in the hospital and was in DIC and they could stop her bleeding . Then we found out she had a growth in her brain ( the general feeling is that it is not cancerous, she will get checked again In Feb. ) and then we find out that I need surgery. I guess the reason why I have no fear about my surgery is because I feel that I have to stay strong for my family and can't think negatively.
I am sorry that this post is sooooooooooo long. I justed started writing and I couldn't stop.
I promise that I will keep everyone update on my progress and I want to thank everyone who has helped me during the past month. I hope to be home for my birthday on the 30th if not then for New Years Eve. It would be nice to start the year on a fresh note. And if I can't be home before the New Year than thats' OK too I will just force my family to trek into the city and throw me a party in the hospital.
Take care everyone,
Rich
