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Hi Everyone!

You may or may not remember me, was CanoeBob when I first joined back in 2011 after my first valve replacement, Bentall procedure on Aortic valve, pig replacement and it's doing rather well. There hasn't been any issues with it, have always tried to take care of it, the cardiologists just laugh, and say come back to see me in 2 years. I gradually moved away from this supportive group, moved from Ontario to Newfoundland, a rock off the east coast of Canada. The move has been great, this is one of the most beautiful provinces in Canada, I live in St. John's, the oldest immigrant community in North America. English, French, Portuguese sailors have been coming here since the early 1500's.

Now - why am I back, you may ask.

I was in for an ultrasound on my kidneys, they have been a problem because of the rheumatoid arthritis medication, yes, drugs to help have side effects that aren't nice, and the technician said to me, "did you know you have an aneurism?" Of course I reiterated that I HAD one pointed out my badge of honour from the previous surgery. This one, she showed me is in the descending aorta, with a 6 cm aneurysm with the calcification in the valve. An extremely good technician indeed, she likely has saved my life. I've had quite a few ultrasounds because of the valve replacement but they have always concentrated on my upper chest area. Hmm...sigh!...Oh well, they have it now.

So now I'm in the waiting room again. My family doctor, cardiologist, rheumatologist, have all been alerted and I suspect that one of them will get back to me next week, telling me to start jumping the hurdles and going through the hoops in order to get better. I think that's the key to this from my previous surgery - question, bitch, grumble and whine and end up doing what they tell you to do. Doctor's generally know what they're doing.

I feel really good now - I'll feel fantastic when all this is over with!

The technician has been the only professional I've talked to so far, she recommended that I not go for weight lifting titles at the gym nor racing in a 100 km bicycle race and I'll go with that until someone says contrary.

The big question I have - WHAT DOES THIS SCAR LOOK LIKE; WHERE DOES IT START AND END? The rest is covered by question and do what they say....

This is a great group, I have frequently thought to get back, and there's many fond memories - getting together with another group member in Kitchener Ontario in a restaurant and sharing a plate of french fries...weight loss forum...encouraging words of wisdom.

Time for my morning 6.2 km bike ride around Quidi Vidi Lake. Currently I have the 7th fastest time in my age group out of 51 for the section of climbing up from "the Gut" on the ride. I promise I won't try to break any records today. I'll let you'all know of any news!

Bob
 
Sorry to hear you are soon to be back in the thick if it again

definately lucky its been picked up, have you been put under any driving restrictions?
 
Guest said:
Hi Everyone!

You may or may not remember me, was CanoeBob when I first joined back in 2011 after my first valve replacement, Bentall procedure on Aortic valve, pig replacement and it's doing rather well. There hasn't been any issues with it, have always tried to take care of it, the cardiologists just laugh, and say come back to see me in 2 years. I gradually moved away from this supportive group, moved from Ontario to Newfoundland, a rock off the east coast of Canada. The move has been great, this is one of the most beautiful provinces in Canada, I live in St. John's, the oldest immigrant community in North America. English, French, Portuguese sailors have been coming here since the early 1500's.

Now - why am I back, you may ask.

I was in for an ultrasound on my kidneys, they have been a problem because of the rheumatoid arthritis medication, yes, drugs to help have side effects that aren't nice, and the technician said to me, "did you know you have an aneurism?" Of course I reiterated that I HAD one pointed out my badge of honour from the previous surgery. This one, she showed me is in the descending aorta, with a 6 cm aneurysm with the calcification in the valve. An extremely good technician indeed, she likely has saved my life. I've had quite a few ultrasounds because of the valve replacement but they have always concentrated on my upper chest area. Hmm...sigh!...Oh well, they have it now.

So now I'm in the waiting room again. My family doctor, cardiologist, rheumatologist, have all been alerted and I suspect that one of them will get back to me next week, telling me to start jumping the hurdles and going through the hoops in order to get better. I think that's the key to this from my previous surgery - question, bitch, grumble and whine and end up doing what they tell you to do. Doctor's generally know what they're doing.

I feel really good now - I'll feel fantastic when all this is over with!

The technician has been the only professional I've talked to so far, she recommended that I not go for weight lifting titles at the gym nor racing in a 100 km bicycle race and I'll go with that until someone says contrary.

The big question I have - WHAT DOES THIS SCAR LOOK LIKE; WHERE DOES IT START AND END? The rest is covered by question and do what they say....

This is a great group, I have frequently thought to get back, and there's many fond memories - getting together with another group member in Kitchener Ontario in a restaurant and sharing a plate of french fries...weight loss forum...encouraging words of wisdom.

Time for my morning 6.2 km bike ride around Quidi Vidi Lake. Currently I have the 7th fastest time in my age group out of 51 for the section of climbing up from "the Gut" on the ride. I promise I won't try to break any records today. I'll let you'all know of any news!

Bob
Click to expand...


Well, 5 months post op and all went well. The scar starts 1 inch below the ohs sternum scar, now very skinny white that's hardly noticeable. Its been 9 years for that. It continues down, going around my belly button to 3 inches below it. New incision dark red.
Surgeon said descending aorta aneurysm is significantly more complicated than aortic valve replacement, they have to move most of my innards out of the way to get at it. As usual I found out that tidbit after, no sense going into a panic wanting to know everything before, learned that from the valve replacement. Hospital recovery was good from what i remember, was on an epidural for pain management, discharged after 5 days.
Real difference from aftercare in Ontario and Newfoundland. I thought Trillium hospital in Mississauga was the cats meow. NOT!! The care by nurses and doctors was totally automated, regulated like McDonald's restaurants and impersonal. In Newfoundland, a little backwater hospital in St. John's- twice daily surgeon visits, nurse's very professionally did their thing AND would just check every hour or so. The respect and personal attention to physical, emotional and mental state was awesome. In Ontario, saw the surgeon twice over 5 days, nurse came in twice a day to inpersonally do what they had to do and say as little as possible.
O
Recovery was slow, long and in the beginning lots of sharp pain. More than OHS. Stuff is still moving around inside getting back to position. I was back on my bicycle at 9 weeks and things are improving still but at surgeon said it'll be a couple years. As he said, the surgery is very, very invasive. He is pleased at how well I've rebounded. The heart valve is still going strong, no problems - pig with dacron tube. The aneurism they fixed was " purple, blue, and ugly red" had a dacron tube stitched in. She said it wasn't weeks or months before it ruptured, it was days or hours....I had no idea it was that close, there are few symptoms.

Life goes on, going through OHS experiences really helped on this round. Again, let the doctor do his thing, research as litte as possible, be positive, my life is being saved. Now it's getting used to the new normal.

Now that my body has been sliced from my clavicle to "to close for comfort" the real important parts....I'm really amazed at what I've been through and what the medical profession csn do! A huge, lengthy "badge of honour"!!!
 
So sorry to hear the way you came back, but glad you did. We are here for you, to support you all the way. Come and see us anytime. We are here for you. Bless you and come back as often as needed.
 
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