Long LIfe???

[INRtest]

Greetings alll. I haven't posted in a long time, but I am lurking out here reading new posts most of the time.

Lately my friends have been asking me how I'm doing & I tell them I feel as well as I did before getting sick which was before my surgery last year; I'm on a miracle drug; and I sometimes mention that I worry about my old age or if I will live into my "old age".

Question: Does anybody know of any studies on the longevity of VR patients? Obviously this will greatly vary from person to person, but I can't help but wonder if the surgery that most of us have had is a death sentence.

Encouraging words would put a smile on my face, but I WOULD ALSO UNDERSTAND IF THIS POST IS DELETED. Thanks...

Jess

 

[geebee]

Jess,

I have always wondered myself if my life expectancy is shortened by valve surgery but I take comfort in the fact that I would have been dead for 25 years now without valve surgery.

I can't help but believe there is a toll taken by major surgeries and daily medications but who's to say how long that is? I do not know of any studies but maybe there are.

I am not sure I really want to know unless a study indicates I will live longer with my artifical valve than someone without one.

 

[INRtest]

Jess,

I have always wondered myself if my life expectancy is shortened by valve surgery but I take comfort in the fact that I would have been dead for 25 years now without valve surgery.

I can't help but believe there is a toll taken by major surgeries and daily medications but who's to say how long that is? I do not know of any studies but maybe there are.

I am not sure I really want to know unless a study indicates I will live longer with my artifical valve than someone without one.

Gina -- you hit the nail on the head & I, for one, wouldn't mind "knowing" that our artificial or otherwise surgically repaired/replaced valves are longer-lasting than those poor souls who haven't had the improvements that we have had!!!!

 

[Ross]

Oh Tobagotwo, your telephone is ringing!!!!

I bet our answer man has the figures.

 

[mntbiker]

Until TobagoTwo gets here I will give you the answer I gave a friend of mine a while ago.

Most people go their entire lives with minimal intervention from a doctor and something that could have been prevented if detected early enough will kill them. We on the other hand are usually monitored on a regular basis so any new problems that come up are detected earlier and resolved giving us a much better chance of longevity.

This is not based on fact just my opinion.

 

[Michaelena]

Maybe I don't understand your question, A "death sentence?" What would have been an alternative to VR surgery? I did not have much choice either time. Was it elective for anyone else out there? Not having it done, at least in my case, would have insured a shorter stay on this planet.

Michaelena

 

[Mary]

When I hit the ripe old age of 54 years, 11months, and 10 days, I will have outlived my father who died as a result of his aortic valve.
Using that measure, I will have had a longer life because I had valve replacement when I was 53.
I expect to live until I'm in my early 90's even though I know I will still have to have another valve replacement. I just hope everyone else on VR is living, so I've got company in my old age. Just think of the plans I'll have for Ross when we're placed in that nursing home.

 

[RCB]

Simple answer

Simple answer

Question: Does anybody know of any studies on the longevity of VR patients? Obviously this will greatly vary from person to person, but I can't help but wonder if the surgery that most of us have had is a death sentence.

Jess

Underwriters for life insurance companies do risk assessment on all kinds of
"pools" to figure out your rate for life insurance. Actuarial table are maintained by insurance companies just for this reason. Remember though,
it is just a statistically average!
Give your friendly life insurance a call- maybe he will share some data with you or do a Google search.

 

[JohnnyV_46]

None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. I wouldn't really call myself a religious person. I do believe in a higher power of which we all have different names. I'm guilty of not treasuring everyday but I can tell you I do feel differently about life since my Heart attack and following by-pass/valve replacement. MtnBiker has it right. We're the lucky ones as far as longevity goes. The poor saps who pay no attention to the occasional twinge of pain and one day just drop dead from a massive Coronary or Blown aneurysm are the ones who get the short end of the stick. We get to become human Crash Test dummies and get hit by that truck that no one ever seems to get the license number of !!! Not to mention human pin cushions and R&D guinea pigs. I for one am glad I got that second chance now. I'll worry about the future later.Besides, who wants to worry about quantity of life when quality of life is much more fun!!

 

[Nancy]

Well, my husband Joe, wasn't supposed to live past 50. He had rheumatic fever as a teen and it destroyed his heart valves and did some lung damage as well.

He's 74 now and has had 3 valve surgeries, 2 lung surgeries and has many, many other very serious and complicated medical problems.

He's basically held together with duct tape and has lots of "car parts"

But he's here and he's going and doing. He's always dodging big bullets, but dodging is the operative word.

Without the surgeries he had, would he be here at all, surely not. He'd be a goner after his first episode with aortic regurgitation.

If he hadn't had rheumatic fever, he'd probably be one of the healthiest men around. So it wasn't the surgeries that compromised his health, they saved it. It was the RF that did the damage.

 

[Ross]

Technically, I'm not supposed to be alive today and I'm still here. So I would think it may well improve our chances a little at least.

 

[Kate]

I was also curious about this and asked my surgeon. Although I don't have specifics, he told me that a recent study in Europe suggests that individuals who have a valve (not sure if this refers to all valves or only the one I struggle with - aortic) replaced prior to significant heart damage (again, not sure what this is defined as) are as likely to live a normal life span as anyone else.

I wish I had the specific article reference so that we could nail down these details. Has anyone else heard about this research? Kate

 

[geebee]

I was also curious about this and asked my surgeon. Although I don't have specifics, he told me that a recent study in Europe suggests that individuals who have a valve (not sure if this refers to all valves or only the one I struggle with - aortic) replaced prior to significant heart damage (again, not sure what this is defined as) are as likely to live a normal life span as anyone else.

I wish I had the specific article reference so that we could nail down these details. Has anyone else heard about this research? Kate

Too bad the life insurance companies don't believe this. Think of all the premiums they have missed out on. I tried to get insurance over 20 years ago and was told I was too high risk. I wonder how many "healthy" people they insured are dead today while I am still around.

 

[tobagotwo]

Hmmm. I don't have any figures for that, Ross. A good thing, too. This has stirred up some valuable thoughts and interesting speculation.

It's a tremendously complex question.

It begins with Geebee's salient observation that without the surgery, most of us would have been dead in a year or three. Or like you, Ross, within minutes.

We have all been given a second lifetime. We didn't start off knowing how long the first one would last, either.

Then there's the issue of age. Most valve recipients are already in their late sixties to early seventies, and the cause is "senile calcification." General observations from studies lead me to guess that about 90% of those patients will make their three score and 16 despite their valve-related issues (e.g. stroke, bleeding, surgery-induced arrhythmias, infection, and age-related recovery issues like interactions with other health problems). Of course, probably 90% of them wouldn't make it without the surgery.

I would extend that grossly oversimplified guess to about 80% for those over fifty, only for those who have no further issues than a "simple" valve replacement.

Again, much guessing, very little science to back it up.

Then there's the issue of causation and the development of comorbid conditions, such as enlargement of aortas and aortic roots, expansion of deterioration to other valves, the development of myxomatous tissue, and other non-cool stuff that happens to real people in life. These things, which mostly occur in younger people (from BAV, endocarditis, or radiation damage) make things somewhat dicier for them. However, caught and surgically controlled in time, many of these issues can be maintained in a very stable state in most people. (Of course we all realize that "most" means nothing, if it doesn't include you.)

I think that any figures for this would have to be insurance actuarial figures, as RCB mentioned, and they would depend on age at onset, and maybe causation or procedure type. Even with that, they would be a gross generalization, considering the wide variation in causations and personal response to surgery.

Best wishes,

 

[Jamboesque]

Hi Folks,

I remember asking my cardiologist "How long does these mechanical doodahs last for?"
"45 years" he replied.
"That'll do for me, where do I sign"

I know that as they haven't been making mech valves for that long St Jude must have been doing some accelerated life-tests to come up with that sort of figure, but the fact that I was 45 at the time, in otherwise pretty good health, if I was going to be more or less guarenteed another 45 years then I wont be wanting my money back when I'm 90+. (This is artistic license as I never paid for it 'up front' just over the years through National Insurance and taxes being a UK citizen)

Seriously, I would tend to think that the population sample for mechanical/organic valve replacements is too small given the general population and coupled with the fact that most people in our circumstances tend to have other medical conditions that might contribute to a shorter life, would make the bookmakers ( Oops,sorry) actuaries job that much harder.

Of course taking Warfarin (coudamin) will complicate matters somewhat with it only been a registered drug for 51 years we might not have a full appreciation yet of its ultimate long term effects. But I do agree in general with the point of us having to visit the medical profession or a regular basis will contribute to our well-being. One reason I don't mind going to the doctor's now is the total lack of embarrassment when going, when you've had things done to you like what we have then who cares what they see.

I do like JohnnyV_46's 'I'll worry about the future, later' Cracking philosophy my good man

 

[John & Joann]

The significant risks are infection and stroke. Joann has been clicking for 33 years, 10 months. We are going to Kentucky for a 10 day trip in the RV this week.

You need to remember to live and not just exist.

Happy Clicking and looking forward to Joann's 34 anniversary this December.

John & Joann too!

 

[Ross]

You need to remember to live and not just exist.
John & Joann too!

Can you elaborate on how to make this possible?

 

[terryj]

We also asked my husbands surgeon how long his ATS valve would last and he said a lifetime. He laughed and then said my husband should die of other causes before the valve gave out. We will take old age. His dad lived to be 90 and his mom 85. We live everyday to its fullest and we don't worry about the coumadin or the mechanical valve he has. We work,travel,enjoy the grandkids and anything else we want to do. Life is good.

 

[StretchL]

I can't help but wonder if the surgery that most of us have had is a death sentence.

Um... isn't the BIRTH that most of us have a death sentence?

 

[aussigal]

OK...I'm in the waiting-room here and this has crossed my lil mind too...
I am told the mechanical will outlive anyone alive-now! barring any complications.

My thoughts on longevity...Well yeah I have been on borrowed-time for 3 years . My dad died of this at 38...

I have read that statistics for early death due to this have gone down dramatically in the last 20 or less years as they improve their techniques over and over again..therefore I feel every year your'e around ,the chances of living longer improve as well.

Used to be something like a average age at death 20-30
Now it is up in to the 70's much like the REGULAR natural-valved folk
and thats the average remembering that there is a great difference between the eldest and youngest still ...

I would think it to be more appropriate to look at how you yourself is feeling and how long your similarly afflicted rellies have lived with this and factor in their level of care compared to yours and I reckon we'll outlive the lot of them