Eager to share info

Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

irel

VR.org Supporter
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Messages
48
Location
Retired in Carleton Place, Ontario, CANADA Small t
Hi, my name is Gord and I will be 69 in April. Over the last 2 years, my Doctor detected a murmur which has worsened. I had a couple of echocardiograms and a Tread Mill Test (which I failed) and it was suspected that thee was a narrowing of the aortic valve. Last week following an Angiogram, it was found that I have two blocked arteries and Moderate Aortic Stenosis. I have already been scheduled for a AVR and a DBP on March 29th; so now my research begins so that I can be better prepared for this.
Over the past two years, the only sign of any heart problem was a shortness of breath and when cutting the lawn, I would sometimes have some dizzy spells or light headiness. Now that I am aware of my condition, I think that what I considered to be heartburn was likely chest pains, primarily during the night when I would wake up with a slight pain across my lower chest which I jsut thought was heartburn.
My wife and I had booked a cruise which was scheduled for Mar 12, 2010, this had to be cancelled as we wanted to avoid any potential crisis while out of the country. Our winter this year has been pretty good without a lot of snow, but we were looking forward to some warm weather in the Carribean.
Following recovery from the surgery we will look forward to a delayed vacation.
 
Hello Gord, and welcome.
Your symptoms sound classic and just the same as mine. SOB with exercise, dizzy, lightheaded, and chest pressure. These are not to be ignored, but I did a good job of engaging in denial. :)
It's a good thing that you are giving your AVR priority and you may want to take it easy in the meantime. You are right that winter seems to have skipped us by this year.
No snow to shovel at all. Yay.
We have a couple of members who have had tissue valve replacements in Ottawa and I'm sure they will help you along.
My AVR was done in Montreal.
 
Welcome to the VR forums. We've just changed servers, address (.com to .org), and formats, so there's a bit of hubbub going on while we all get used to it, but it will pass.

I'm not sure what DBP represents. The acronym I would have looked for is CABG (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft). However, they are always coming up with new twists on things (which always requires a new acronym), or "rebranding" things that already exist to advertise their medical centers.

Your case is not unusual from the sound of it. That's good, as this is an area in which you don't want to be unique. You'll probably do quite well.

Best wishes,
 
Cute. I should have thought of something completely nontechnical. Thank you. "Bypass" is one word, by the way, for the unknown persons out there in the ether who make up these acronyms...

A double bypass is two CABGs. Certainly better than four of 'em.

Best wishes,
 
Gord, welcome to VR. Your comments cut close to home. I, too, thought my symptoms had to be related to something else...I was just not getting enough exercise...needed to lose some weight...anything but my heart. It is likely that after surgery you will find that a number of things will change for the better that you never associated with a heart problem. Let us know how we can be of help.

Larry
 
Hi Gord,
Welcome aboard. Glad to hear that you are moving forward to take care of this.
Best wishes,
John
 
Welcome Gord! I think you made an excellent choice not to be out of the country until after your AVR. The good part is after suregery you will have something to look forward to. If you have any questions, ask and someone will help you.
 
Hi Gord, just wanted to welcome you and wish you well with your upcoming surgery. :cool:

PS....does the Irel stand for Ireland ?
 
Hi Gord
Welcome to a very positive site where you will find MUCH info and support. I've also had AVR but have "dodged" the bypasses so far.

You should be OK to cruise by early summer. My photo shows me with a green sea turtled on one of the islands a couple years ago. Great place to visit, but I would wait 'till next winter. Best wishes.
 
Bina
I have been receiving a lot of response since I joined the site. Thanks for the encouragement. Taking it easy is difficult as I had just started to finish off a basement bedroom when my Dr gave me the results of the Stress Test. This has now been put on hold and of course my wife won't let me do anything, so the computer keeps me occupied and will likely be the same following surgery. I was surprised to have surgery scheduled so quickly following my Angiogram (5 weeks), so perhaps my condition is more serious than thought. I have heard great things about the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and at this point no sign of denial, although that will likely come.
Regards, Gord
 
Welcome, Gord- You have found a great resource and group for the support you will need on your journey.
I'm in the same boat as you (wish it was a cruise ship) and am looking at surgery this year. The symptoms are easy to ignore as they often feel like you just need to exercise more and eat right and get in shape. You are wise and lucky to catch this before it's a bigger problem. Good luck and congrats on having good doctors who diagnosed you!
 
Hi Gord

As you will notice from my signature I too had one CABG with the AVR. We are of a similar age, I'll be 67 in May. Only difference, I knew all my life that I had a dodgy aortic valve. The last 25 odd years, as technology improved, it was monitored until it was down to every 6 months and I started to develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, angina pains, (typically what I wished away as heart burn) and finally a severe case of A-fib which put me in hospital. They chemically cardioverted it and caused an emergency with my HR going down to 30 and BP dropping like a stone. That was when my cardiologist and surgeon had a heart to heart:D talk with me and I agreed to the surgery before any damage to the heart occurred.

After much deliberation and discussions with various surgeons and cardio's as well the local reps for heart valves I decided on tissue and then bovine pericardial. Many reasons, age being one of them.

Now I am a new man doing everything I shied away from before the surgery, sailing, hiking and going on an island hopping trip to the Greek Islands in June. Backpacking like we did 40 years ago!!!

Wishing you all the best and fire away if you need anything cleared up from my perspective.
 
Great to hear that you are doing all the things you want. Up until a few months ago I had the same attitude, unaware of the underlying issue. So far, I have not met my Surgeon so I am little bit in the dark but I should be contaced soon. I am not looking forward to the recovery period following the surgery, but what the heck, I am not the only one having to endure this and I plan on keeping a healthy outlook. I have quit smoking (should have done so earlier) and I am looking forward to a lifestyle change - lose some weight, more walking/exercise and more attention to diet. Have fun island hopping.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top