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Hi Mike, yes, it's quite normal. If you didn't worry about it, I'd be worried about you! Sign up and come in. No sense posting out here in the shadowlands. :D
 
Hi Mike,
I understand what you went through....someone I know had the Ross procedure done several years ago and it failed also.
She now has a St.Judes and is doing well.
I'm glad to hear that you are active and enjoying life and your children:)
 
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Hi Mike,

Glad you've found VR.com.
It's a great place to share your thoughts, concerns and fears...it's a supportive and caring place. I'd love to hear more about your experience as my husband had the Ross Procedure too.
So join up...come in from the cold!

Cheers, Yolanda
 
OK... I have registered and I am now an active member!
Thank you all for your encouragement.

Yolanda, my Ross procedure was problematic from the very beginning. I had a long hospital stay, fluid in the lungs, long time on a vent. Long recovery. It was pretty challenging to say the least. I eventually got back on my feet and resumed my normal active lifestyle.

I was teaching Fitness Kickboxing and Taekwondo 5 days a week. My big mistake was that I didn't keep up with my scheduled doctor's checkup. They basically lost me for two years post-op (Fall 1999 - August 2001). I figured that with my active lifestyle, I would be keenly aware if there were any problems. I was a dumb male... I was wrong.

One of my fitness students was also a nurse, and upon hearing that I did not have a followup visit in two years, she strongly encouraged me to get checked out (she chewed me out!).

So in August 2001 I had my ultrasound. The Cardiologist said that my pulmonic and aortic valves had failed and that I needed to have surgery ASAP. The funny thing was... I didn't feel bad. Just a bit tired, but I thought that was due to lack of sleep and taking care of three children.

So, two weeks later on September 5, 2001, I had the valves replaced at the University of PA (Dr Bavaria). I was really scared, since the Ross procedure was so problematic, I didn't think that I could handle the pain again. But to my surprise, it went very smooth. What a great staff they had!

Since then, I am doing great. Very active and feeling wonderful. :D

But the thought that I will need to have a third operation at some point is always on my mind. Sometimes to the point of waking up in a mild panic. :eek:

The surgeon strongly recommended mechanical valves, since he did not want me to have a third operation in the future. But with my lifestyle, I chose the bioprosthetics.

So, that is my story!

Mike
 
Great to see that you joined up Mike!
Thanks too, for sharing your story. Thank goodness for that nurse in your fitness class! Obviously you were quite asymptomatic (aside from the tiredness) so you didn't realise things were not going along as well as you expected. Do you know what caused the failure of your valves post Ross Procedure? Glad to hear you're doing so well now after your 2nd op. I think many on this site would understand the feeling of being fearful of another op. (I didn't even have the surgery, but just watching Chris go through so much, I had a number of bad dreams where I would wake up in tears.)
I'm interested in your story as post surgery, Chris' homograft started showing signs of what they believe was an 'immune response'. A few months after surgery his homograft began to show signs of increasing stenosis/ scarring over. It continued over the course of the first year but then stopped...which we were so relieved and thankful for. The gradient across his pulmonary homograft is now at 30mmHg. He also felt quite tired too, but we also have three children and so we generally attribute it to that.
I assume that you are now going to be a model patient and have regular echoes and check-ups? If not...there will be a whole tribe of us now on VR.com that will be on your case!
Thanks again for sharing your experiences,

Cheers, Yolanda
 

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