"In the waiting room??" What qualifies???

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

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

Roxx_yer_Soxx

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Messages
62
Location
Lima, Ohio
Might seem like a dumb question.... but what actually qualifies for in the waiting room??

Does having a BAV itself qualify?

If its true that 2/3rds of BAV never need treatment, then just having a BAV alone shouldn't qualify one for "in the waiting room" should it?

My guess is that those of us who are "in the waiting room" are those here who have been told by their Cardio's that in the future, surgery is probably most certain and/or current symptoms point to the high probability of future surgery...is this correct?
 
If you are being shaved in parts of your body you never look at by a stranger, you may be in the waiting room.....
 
When I was around 20, my GP diagnosed a mild murmur....no big deal....probably MVP, and take antibs with dental work.
When I was in my mid thirties, I had more of those "fluttery heart" feelings, and some runs of strong palpitations.
When I was around 40 my GP heard a much louder "stenosis" sound and mentioned the other "S" word (surgery) which could be very well be in my future. I had had baseline echos, but now things were getting scary. So much for my harmless MVP!
Anyway, things moved along quickly after that, but a BAV was never mentioned, I discovered it myself when I requested the surgery/cardio notes.

So, to answer your question: I was never in the waiting room until about 20 yrs down the road when my GP mentioned that I would "need to get that fixed" and my cardio appts were suddenly frequent.
Like James said: Then we wake up in a funny looking gown with our body shaved. ;)
 
to be accepted in the waiting room, you must be willing to make coffee, bring snacks, clean up after yourself and others. light housekeeping duties. We have members who have been in the waiting room for years. Hope you will be like that, too. Blessins........
 
Roxx_yer_Soxx said:
Might seem like a dumb question.... but what actually qualifies for in the waiting room??

Does having a BAV itself qualify?

If its true that 2/3rds of BAV never need treatment, then just having a BAV alone shouldn't qualify one for "in the waiting room" should it?

My guess is that those of us who are "in the waiting room" are those here who have been told by their Cardio's that in the future, surgery is probably most certain and/or current symptoms point to the high probability of future surgery...is this correct?
Click to expand...

Yes
BUT YOU MAY HAVE TO WAIT A LONG TIME
I WAITED 41 YEARS
 
Ann said most of it. . . but I would venture to say that the common definition of being in the VR Waiting Room is that one has been told that they are likely to need valve surgery of some sort in the future. As someone noted (forgot whose comment it is) -- the qualifier is when the doc says the issue is not "if" but rather is "when" surgery will be needed.

That said, I've been here in The Waiting Room for about 7 years (can it really be that long?). Great place with lots of company. Make yourself comfortable, visit often and ask lots of questions. Some of the best resources are here with us.
 
I entered the Waiting Room when I had my once every 4-5 year echo and the cardio said I was going to need surgery sometime in the next 3 years; this remark due to the fact that my valve measure had dropped to 1.0. If I did not have the surgery I would surely die because my disease, the stenosis, would slowly but eventually overtake the functioning of the heart valve and cause death. How long I was in the Waiting Room would be determined by annual echos which would measure the aortic valve opening (closing up from the stenosis disease). Once the opening stiffened down to .7 cm squared I would be sent to a surgeon to determine how soon to have surgery.

I made it that whole 3 years, and am now, post-surgery, better than new!

I LOVE DuffMan's closing remark. YOU should think his way. Please....
In The Living Room

Best wishes.

Marguerite
 
Thought I'd chime in on this one. I first found out about my BAV in 1990 when I got endocarditis the first time and I got my first echo. Prior to that I was told I just had a murmur and probably got it from rhuematic fever when I was a child. It was then that I was placed in the waiting room. I was in denial and began to live a life of eating right, thinking right, feeling right, taking gobs of supplements, and working out like crazy. I was convinced that I would show them all up and die of old age before they ever got a hold of me. It worked for 20 years. My valve progressed very slowly and sometimes I'd skip my annual echo by a year or two or more. No symptoms so I just figured they were mixing up my echo results with some other unlucky guy. Well Roxx, it worked for a very long time. I was told over and over that my lifestyle and exercise routine, which I made fun with surfing,skiing, hiking, climbing, etc. along with aerobic and anaroebic workouts was why I was still so healthy. I left the fast lane and lived in the "reverse commute" world of meditaton, yoga, and nature. I became a different person changed forever.Fast forward to 2009. My time had come. In March of last year, my echo showed the aortic valve area unchanged at 1.0cm2 from the previous year although the peak/mean gradients had increased from 60/34mmHg to 89/50mmHg.....severe aortic valve stenosis. I was losing windpower in my workouts but still going strong. I spent the summer in my camper in Southern Oregon from 6500' to 8000' hiking and running with my dogs, thinking I was just getting old and not in good condition. I was starting to get mild arrythmias never during activity and mostly just when I would lay down to go to bed. In November my next echo showed my valve had shifted gears. The valve area had decreased from 1.0cm2 to .86cm2 and the peak/mean gradient had increased from 89/50mmHg to 109/51mmHg. My cardiologist suggested I meet a surgeon and get educated on AVR.........SHOCKWAVES.........my time had really come. They were right and I had indeed not beat the odds. I prolonged the inevitable surgery, for which I would do over and over again. I then began a search for the right surgeon & team to do the job. I had decided I wanted the most minimally invasive procedure available and a team that did a high volume of procedures. The search started in Bend, Oregon, then moved south to Scripps in San Diego, then east to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, and ended up with Dr. Gillinov at the Cleveland Clinic where I stand in line for my surgery scheduled for 2/22/10. My valve is still in 5th gear as I just completed another echo prior to a cath (through the wrist) at St. Charles in Bend and the valve area was .73cm2 and the peak/mean gradients was 87.3/54.0mmHg. I still have virtually no symptoms except for mild heart discomfort and mild arrythmias/palpitations. The docs won't let me workout or ski (bummer as I'm a ski instructor) so I'm not experiencing any loss of windpower. No problems walking up hills with the dogs. So there you have it. Next month I'm leaving the waiting room. It was great while I was waiting.....living a healthy and happy and worryfree life. Now I CAN'T WAIT to have the AVR and get on with my recovery. I'm listening to several guided visualization & relaxation CDs and getting my mind, body, and spirit programmed for a procedure with "no complications, minimal bleeding, and very little discomfort". I know that the AVR with allow me to continue to live my life and continue my lifestyle. Without the procedure......well there is no option here. Good Luck my friend and remember we all have choices. I choose to make this experience a very positive one. One which I will learn from and grow from and become a better and stronger person from.......BRING IT ON!!!
 
I like how jjay32 summed it up. Personally, even though (when I was around 8) the doctors said I'd need AVR "during high school," I never considered myself in the waiting room until October when my cardio said I needed surgery in the next year. I'm going for another opinion at the end of the month, and if he recommends waiting a few years I guess I'll still consider it the waiting room. All of this is more "real" and "serious" than I've taken it over the years with routine echocardiograms and "same old, same old" reports.

At least my definition kept me out of the waiting room for 30+ years so I could grow up and have a good start on a normal life. ;)
 
Gail - We use a broader definition here at vr.com in order to invite a larger number of members to feel comfortable in The Waiting Room. That way they will know that they are always welcome to visit, ask questions and even vent. There is always plenty of room here, and we try to keep the room inviting to all. Now if I could find the remote for the HD television, we could watch some TV while we wait. . .
 
epstns said:
Gail - We use a broader definition here at vr.com in order to invite a larger number of members to feel comfortable in The Waiting Room. That way they will know that they are always welcome to visit, ask questions and even vent. There is always plenty of room here, and we try to keep the room inviting to all. Now if I could find the remote for the HD television, we could watch some TV while we wait. . .
Click to expand...

Steve:

How about putting a donations jar in the waiting room to cover getting Net Flix?
 
river-wear said:
I like how jjay32 summed it up. Personally, even though (when I was around 8) the doctors said I'd need AVR "during high school," I never considered myself in the waiting room until October when my cardio said I needed surgery in the next year. I'm going for another opinion at the end of the month, and if he recommends waiting a few years I guess I'll still consider it the waiting room. All of this is more "real" and "serious" than I've taken it over the years with routine echocardiograms and "same old, same old" reports.

At least my definition kept me out of the waiting room for 30+ years so I could grow up and have a good start on a normal life. ;)
Click to expand...

Don't mean to hijack this thread -- but is your 2nd opinion with another cardiologist or with a surgeon?
 
Hi Marsha,

It's with a cardiologist. Partly because I want to "interview" him to possibly be my new cardiologist. My current one isn't returning my phone calls for some reason. I've only seen her twice and it seems rather reasonable that when you tell someone they need surgery there might be a couple of follow-up questions.

But I digress. Depending how things go with the next appointment I may jump to a surgeon regardless. I will mention one thing - the ACC/AHA guidelines don't appear to indicate surgery is warranted yet, unless at 5'8" and 134 lbs I'm considered a "small stature" patient. :)
 
river-wear said:
Hi Marsha,

It's with a cardiologist. Partly because I want to "interview" him to possibly be my new cardiologist. My current one isn't returning my phone calls for some reason. I've only seen her twice and it seems rather reasonable that when you tell someone they need surgery there might be a couple of follow-up questions.
Click to expand...

Grrr! Hate it when there's a layer between the patient and the doctor and communication becomes bottle-necked.
 
Truth be told we are all in one big waiting room. Stay in the room long enough and I promise something will break, hurt for no reason at all, fall off or just stop working. Thank the Lord we get to move on when the time comes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top