July 24 for ascending aorta replacement and valve repair

[mattswife]

Well we finally have a date!

My husband was diagnosed over a year ago with an aortic aneurysm and a severely leaking valve. We talked to a couple of different surgeons and decided to go with Dr Duke Cameron at Johns Hopkins. He has been monitoring Matt's condition since then, and we all feel that the time is right for surgery before the heart shows any more stress. Our surgery date is July 24.

Now that we have a surgery date, we had to get a note from the dentist saying there is no infection in his gums. Well guess what? Matt needed a root canal! He got that done last week and he is still on the antibiotic.

So we have five weeks to go until surgery. Overall we are in good spirits. I remind myself that in a few months Matt won't be so fatigued all the time. He also gets a squeezing feeling in his throat that scares the crap out of him. I just want it to be done - if we could go in tomorrow I would. In the meantime, I am busy getting the house ready for a post-surgery patient. It won't be easy with three kids and two dogs underfoot! Any advice would be appreciated. I am looking into purchasing a good recliner for him to sleep in, and trying to anticipate what his other needs will be.

Onward!

 

[Tejumurthy]

Hi,
My 2 cents.. may not be completely applicable for your husband case. I just would like to share my experience with same type of surgery last sept 2014.
I have a BAV and last year diagnosed with ascending aorta measuring 4.7 cm. I went to Cleveland clinic to get it fixed and the surgeon was one of the best. I left the decision to surgeon on either to repair or replace my aortic valve. Apparently they did repair my aortic valve and replaced ascending aorta. Now the post surgery, though i was ok but not completely fine. My cardiologist was not happy with my surgery out come and in recent follow up ECHO it showed that the my valve is severely leaking and with stenosis and require an another surgery to replace the valve.

My only suggestion here is please make sure the valve is repairable otherwise chose to replace rather a repair. May be my case is unfortunate,but still do a thorough discussion with surgeon before surgery.
Even though i did not choose a valve repair, i ended up having second surgery in just 10 months. And my age is 37 with a young family of wife and daughter.

Sorry to discourage you, its my experience.

Thanks,
Teju

 

[mattswife]

Teju - thanks for your response! Truly, I am so sorry that you have to go through it again. Our surgeon is telling us that based on what he sees on the echo, he feels fairly confident that he will be able to repair the valve. He is considered an expert in valve repairs, among a few other things. So when he said that he thinks it can be repaired to his satisfaction, I felt obviously relieved and hopeful. Now, however, based on your story, I will be in touch with him to ask some questions about valve repairs. Has your surgeon given you any explanation for what happened? I would be interested to hear the details of your story if you would like to share them.

--Trudy

 

[RobThatsMe]

Here is a link to take you to a Thread on this Forum that was contributed to by many members of this Forum.
It will have a lot of answers to your original question. Hope this helps.

http://www.valvereplacement.org/foru...coming-patient

Also, in the event that the surgeon gets inside and finds that a repair will not work, you should have a backup plan in place with him.
If the valve does need to be replaced, then be sure he knows exactly what type of valve you want, mechanical, tissue? If mechanical what type do you want, St. Judes, On-X? etc?

Best wishes for a successful surgery and a full, and healthy recovery for Matt.

Rob

 

[Duffey]

Best wishes going forward. Mary

 

[DachsieMom]

Hi! I had a St. Jude implanted in April. Like you, I have young children and a dog. I decided to sleep on the couch after surgery. We made it up like a bed, and it was fairly comfortable. I kept my toiletries and some clothing downstairs. I also bought a wedge pillow and a bell but did not need them. By the time I came home, I could do the stairs once per day - I showered (with assistance) every other day at first, as it was an effort. My husband was very helpful. I couldn't lift anything, including my dog (she is elderly and 10 lbs, and needs to be carried outside). I made sure I was fully stocked with household supplies (paper towels, toothpaste, etc.) so we would need anything for a while. I found it very helpful to have a pill box and a pill app reminder, as my memory isn't the best. My neighbors started a meal train which was invaluable. I just left a cooler outside and they dropped off dinner every night. We also hired a cleaning person temporarily once per week.

 

[OldManEmu]

I have noticed a number of people say they used a recliner to sleep after surgery. I like to sleep on my back or side and I found I couldn't be completely flat on my back on a recliner. It was easier sleeping in my bed and more comfortable then a recliner after both my surgeries once I got home.
I agree with Rob that you need to discuss and make a backup plan clear to the surgeon before surgery if a repair isn't possible.

 

[Paleowoman]

I slept on my sofa sitting upright with lots of pillows supporting me. That was for the first six weeks or so, but towards the fourth week I found I could lie down on the sofa for an hour or so each night without my chest getting too painful. I exteneded the times until I could lie on my side for the full night and then I was able to sleep in bed.

 

[mxtexas]

Hello,

I am a 45 year old male and had my surgery last November 2014 at Emory, in Atlanta. My stats were a true BAV, with mod-severe leakage and a 4.9cm aortic root. Nonetheless, all of the tests showed that I had a high likelyhood for repair. According to my surgeon, it was something like 95% probable. However, he did couch that statement by saying that you will never be sure until you "get in there" and see the valve. Well, all told, he informed me that during surgery, he had repaired the valve, but only felt as though it would be a "B+ job" if he left it as is, so he made the game time decision to replace the valve with a tissue valve. Admittedly, I was a bit shocked to find this out when I awoke from surgery and I stewed over it for a few days, but in the end, I felt like if the repair was not durable in his mind, then the replacement was the best course of action. Additonally he repalced the aortic root and a portion of the aortic hemi-arch ..( I don't even know what that is).

I will be following up with my 6 month CT and Echo next week.....fingers crossed.

mxtexas

 

[carolinemc]

Mattswife, it is common to get the clear all from the dentist, to protect the patient from an infection in the mouth to go down to the heart and cause encarditis, inflamation of the heart. We al ahve to do that prior to pour surgeries. Hope he will be through with the antibotics soon, and he will get the clearance fron the dentest before surgery date. Good luck and keep us posted. Hugs for today.