cp172
Well-known member
Hi VR Family,
Well I spent the morning with my cardio. and he agrees with the two surgeons and my PCP that I need surgery. He ran another echo and told me it looks like one of the cords on the mitral valve is broken or torn. He told me he would be surprised if the valve could be repaired. I asked that they proceed as fast as possible with the surgery. The waiting is terrible!
I am schedule to report to the hospital Monday Feb.4th at 6am for a heart cath.I then will spend two days getting a load of heparin and on Wednesday, Feb 6th my surgeon will conduct OHS to fix/replace the mitral valve, a maze and a procedure to reduce the size of the atrium.
I thought I was sold on a Medtronic?s tissue valve but there is now conversation about a mechanical valve. My surgeon leans toward the tissue valve because he says long term effects of coumadin is as risky as another valve job in 10-15 years. My cardio feels differently. He thinks I might end up on coumadin anyway since the maze may not fix the A/F.
I am confused, uncertain and scared . I am having a conference call tomorrow with my surgeon and one of his colleagues (another surgeon who is a friend of mine) to discuss the matter.
My ears are open to any advice or comments. This whole event is pretty depressing as I feel fine. (At this point I typed several sentences which amounted to a bunch of whining! I deleted them.I need to get a positive attitude).
Thanks for being there. It looks like I will be climbing the big hairy mountain next week . Sure wish I could twitch my nose and beam over the mountain.To my family and friends I look very brave. Inside I am a scared little puppy.
God Bless You all!
Well I spent the morning with my cardio. and he agrees with the two surgeons and my PCP that I need surgery. He ran another echo and told me it looks like one of the cords on the mitral valve is broken or torn. He told me he would be surprised if the valve could be repaired. I asked that they proceed as fast as possible with the surgery. The waiting is terrible!
I am schedule to report to the hospital Monday Feb.4th at 6am for a heart cath.I then will spend two days getting a load of heparin and on Wednesday, Feb 6th my surgeon will conduct OHS to fix/replace the mitral valve, a maze and a procedure to reduce the size of the atrium.
I thought I was sold on a Medtronic?s tissue valve but there is now conversation about a mechanical valve. My surgeon leans toward the tissue valve because he says long term effects of coumadin is as risky as another valve job in 10-15 years. My cardio feels differently. He thinks I might end up on coumadin anyway since the maze may not fix the A/F.
I am confused, uncertain and scared . I am having a conference call tomorrow with my surgeon and one of his colleagues (another surgeon who is a friend of mine) to discuss the matter.
My ears are open to any advice or comments. This whole event is pretty depressing as I feel fine. (At this point I typed several sentences which amounted to a bunch of whining! I deleted them.I need to get a positive attitude).
Thanks for being there. It looks like I will be climbing the big hairy mountain next week . Sure wish I could twitch my nose and beam over the mountain.To my family and friends I look very brave. Inside I am a scared little puppy.
God Bless You all!