G
Guest
Hi everyone, My question is if there is somebody without any symptoms /even tiny/ went trough aortic valve replacement surgery ?
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Catie
Well-known member
Yes. I had no symptoms whatsoever prior to my surgery last September. My stenotic valve had just moved to "severe," but surgeons felt it wise to go ahead and address an aortic aneurysm, as well as replace the valve and root.
I had absoultely no symptoms whatsoever when I had aortic valve replacement. I was very fit. No problems. I did a six mile walk and lifted weights, moderately heavy weights, the day before I went in for surgery. The stenosis with my bicuspid aortic valve had reached severe but I really and truly felt fine, not even a tiny symptom. I live in the UK - in Euope they tend to do aortic valve replacement at the point before a person gets symptoms so that no 'damage' is done to the heart, whereas I understand that in the US they wait until the person begins to have symptoms. To be honest I do question now that I had surgery when I did. I didn't get back to near my pre-surgery level of fitness until a year after surgery so I don't thik it was worth having the surgery when I did. In hindsight I should have got a second opinion, but at the time I knew it was stressful for my family so just went ahead.Guest;n873470 said:
Hearty
Member
No symptoms for me at all. I had known about my problem since I was very young and was told to have it looked at again in my mid-30s. By my mid-30s, the size of my valve decreased to a point where it was considered severe. My cardiologist told me it was only a matter of time until I could faint, collapse, or worse while doing anything active, so I took his advice to replace my valve even though I'm a really stubborn man! 
Not sure if this is helpful, but my symptoms (sudden shortness of breath after 100m of walking) came on suddenly, and my surgery ended up being done as an emergency about 4 months later, but the delay was only because of long gaps between appointments for tests. The echocardiograph test was the conclusive one.
Bonbet
Well-known member
Hi, Paleowoman: I haven't been on this site for awhile but I am due for a check in two weeks and despite my still being asymptomatic I will be scheduling surgery for sometime this year (depending on echo results). I feel compelled to get it done because I turn 65 in Dec. and I fear changes in insurance and medicare will mean I can't access my docs at Mayo. And the docs have been recommending I have surgery for two years. Anyway- I have always wondered if they told you what your valve looked like after they removed it? I am secretly hoping that if I finally take the leap they will say something like "good thing we went for it your valve looked a lot worse than we thought." Cause I feel pretty good and exercise regularly. Just wondering. McBon
No symptoms here either with my first replacement. I had a "cold" for almost two weeks and one day went down(passed out)! Valve opening was pin hole size by the time the got me on the table. Second replacement was a bit different. Last February had all my yearly tests and was cleared for another year. By May I had onset of shortness of breath until I started to hyperventilate. Second surgery, November 1, Mayo Clinic in Rochester and on the road to recovery
Hi McBon - The surgeon never told me what my valve looked like after surgery. In the Operation Notes it says under ‘Indications and Findings' that echocardiogram showed I had severe aortic stenosis and that the valve was bicuspid with mid fusion between the left and right coronary cusps. I‘m glad I don’t have the insurance and medicare problems you have - I live in the UK. If they are advising you to have surgery go for it !
Bonbet
Well-known member
Thanks Anne. I guess my handle is Bonbet and not McBon. It has been both for reasons I do not understand. bonbet
Paleowoman;n873477 said:
I missed this when I posted earlier, and just wanted to say I only had symptoms for 4 months but in that time my heart was enlarged (I think because of the difficulty of pumping blood through the restricted Aortic valve) and so I now have a degree of heart failure. This has some impact on fitness level but also means I have to take a water tablet, which means I need to go to the toilet every 20 minutes for almost 6 hours. Occasionally I don't take it because it would be too inconvenient to find a loo that often, and I have found I gain one pound per day then.
Bonbet;n874060 said:
I had no symptoms prior to my surgery (had it last year at age 27). I actually requested that my surgeon take a picture of the old valve, and it was much worse than they had anticipated! The surgery took longer than anticipated as well due to how bad my valve actually was!
Maybe it should be like a car mechanic where they give you the old parts.
