hi there birdlady50
hi there birdlady50
and welcome ! The news can be a bit shocking at first, I know my first thoughts after being told surgery was a possibility was panic and denial!
I am a Brit, but transplanted to Canada some time ago; I learned in 1985 I had a heart murmur, but it was very slight. Fortunately I have a good family doctor (sometimes called a primary care physician or PCP here in North America, and a GP in the UK). I got what I thought was bronchitis about 7 years ago, and went to ER (emergency) because I was not getting over it, and GP had given me antibiotics. SOB (shortness of breath), tired and just felt yucky. Well, that ER doc was right on the ball, recognised my murmur (I told him it was "really tough to hear" and he said he heard it as soon as he walked into the room!). He sent me for chest X-ray, bloodwork, and electrocardiogram (I still don't know if that is an EKG or not
, where they put the leads on your chest and get that graph-thing of your heartbeat) and made an appointment for an echocardiogram in 36 hours!
well, the long and short of it was, I was referred to a cardio at that time, was told I would need surgery "sometime". I had a stenotic (narrowing) aortic valve, and had follow-up echos done every year, and last May was referred to a surgeon, had my valve replaced in September and I am fine, fine, fine. Surgeon is the one who discovered I had a bicuspid, I guess by the time my first echo was done that the valve had so much gunk growing on it and around it, that they could not see for sure.
Here, they are not too keen on doing the surgery unless they have to - the main criteria are a certain narrowing and/or symptoms and/or aneurism of the aorta itself. However, there is a relatively fine line between too early and too late, so follow-up is crucial.
I am now 53 years old, 10 months out of surgery and do not consider myself a "heart patient" or "high risk", I do however take precautions, such as MedicAlert bracelet, and telling people I am around a lot that I am on anti-coagulants. Life hasn't changed much, and for me, it hasn't really impacted my life and lifestyle any more than, say, diabetes, would.
Feel free to e-mail me or PM me if you want more info - although I am sure I have given more than enough here and you probably won't to ever see another post from me again
Take care, insist on follow-up, and be assured there is life (and a good one at that) once you get through this.
Jeanette