Probably Been Asked 8,000 Times -- How much exercise is safe, pre-surgery?

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Bill

Bill

Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2010
Messages
7
Location
South Boston, MA
Hi,
I'm completely new to this forum, and to the whole valve aneurysm schtick in general. I was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago with a 5.4cm dilated ascending aortic valve. Before the diagnosis, I was working out 6 days a week, for almost 3 hours at a time. This included power lifting, boxing, jujitsu and spin classes. To put it mildly, I'm a pretty active, physically fit guy.

The cardiologists told me no heavy weight lifting. I asked them to define that for me, but they couldn't give me any number as to what weight was allowable. They also told me no boxing and no jujitsu. I feel like a newly neutered dog :p.

So what do people do for exercise? Does anyone still lift weights? If so, what's your limit? How do you know if you're pushing yourself too hard? Can you do abdominal work? Push-ups?

I'll go ahead and apologize if this thread is entirely redundant. I've spent a bit of time searching this site, but haven't found any consistent, concrete guidelines to follow. Everything is somewhat generalized, or doesn't apply specifically to athletes.
 
Depends on your condition. I had severe regurgitation but had no restrictions on exercise; regurg isn't something that would cause me to suddenly collapse. It's more of a slow-motion degeneration. Severe stenosis or aneurysms may have more risk of a sudden event. I'd try to talk with your doc again about your specific questions.
 
I understand lifting weights and sit ups increase blood pressure, which is a real issue with a large aneurism. When is your surgery scheduled? I thought 5.0 or 5.2 was the trigger point?

I quit exercise walks about 3 weeks ago, quit lifting any weights more than a gallon of milk when I was told it was time for surgery, in May, and last week stopped dog agility and obedience because I get out of breath, little chest pains, and dizzy. My AVR is next week. I have regurge.
 
Bill said:
Hi,
I'm completely new to this forum, and to the whole valve aneurysm schtick in general. I was diagnosed about 3 weeks ago with a 5.4cm dilated ascending aortic valve.
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome I don't think you can have an ascending aortic valve; it sounds like you have an ascending aortic aneurysm? If you do have an aneurysm, lifting is not good, so I'd say nothing heavier than a half-gallon of milk, being on the cautious side, and nothing in the way of weight lifting or training for now. Ab work and push-ups are probably not a good idea for now either, and I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable folks in this area will be along to chime in soon.
 
@ dave: Thanks for the input. I'll call them and ask for more guidance.

@ AgilityDog: I don't have a surgery date picked yet. My surgery consult is on August 23rd. The surgery is elective at this point (they said I could go on like this for a while, if I wanted to). I'm thinking mid-November. I'm getting married this Fall, and would like to do it a month or so afterward.

Anyway. They told me that although the valve is dilated, the walls are in good shape. They're not going to have to replace it, just do whatever they do to repair it. I have great vital stats and everything -- blood pressure is awesome. I forget what they said exactly and don't have the paperwork with me, but I think I have a small amount of regurgitation.

Dumb question: What do you mean by trigger point? I'm extremely ignorant of all of this, other than what the docs told me in the last meeting.

Can you tell me more about the chest pains, dizziness and loss of breath? I've experienced that as well -- even today. I ended up going to the E.R. because of it once. They told me it was a panic attack and gave me some pills.

Good luck with your AVR!

I guess I should just hold off on everything to be safe. I'm probably still going to skip rope, since that doesn't really raise my heart rate that much. Is there a target heart rate I should not be exceeding?
 
Luana said:
Hi and welcome I don't think you can have an ascending aortic valve; it sounds like you have an ascending aortic aneurysm? If you do have an aneurysm, lifting is not good, so I'd say nothing heavier than a half-gallon of milk, being on the cautious side, and nothing in the way of weight lifting or training for now. Ab work and push-ups are probably not a good idea for now either, and I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable folks in this area will be along to chime in soon.
Click to expand...

Yeah. . . that's what I meant . . . aneurysm :) Thanks for the reply. I'm following your advice.
 
Bill, my son just had an aortic root repair. His measurement at the root was 4.56. I am not sure where yours is being measured. Be really careful. Colin has always been told no weight lifting because he has a weak aorta due to Marfan Syndrome. Have the doctors told you they want to repair it? Many people on this board have had that done and can fill you in on it. It must be really hard to not be able to do something you are used to doing. I am sure you want to keep in shape, but find out what the docs say first. Good luck.
 
Welcome bill

Welcome bill

wow.gif
GREAT START to using the board

WELCOME !!!!!!
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@ Barb: The valve was measured by the surgeons at the Mass General Hospital heart center. I also made a mistake (which my fiance pointed out after reading this thread). I'm dilated to either 5.2 - 5.3. The initial echocardiogram was misread and measured at 5.4. Since then, they've done 2 CT scans with contrast, which revealed the true measurement. They doctors have told me that they don't suggest getting the surgery until it's dilated to 5.5cm, but that if it was going to effect my quality of life (i.e. cause constant anxiety), that they'd allow me to get it done at my will.

As for the discovery of the aneurysm:

I started having migraines earlier this year. After having 3 of them, I decided it was a good idea to get checked out. The doctor had me go in for a CT scan of my brain and an echocardiogram. They told me that they check the hearts of people with sudden onset migraines because there's an off chance that there may be a hole in the heart, causing blot clots to be pumped into the brain. I believe this is what happened to Tedy Bruschi, causing him to have a stroke.

So, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), during the routine checkup, they discovered my heart problem. I guess I'm lucky? Had they not checked, there's an extremely large possibility that this would have done me in.

I guess I'm just having trouble coping with the lifestyle adjustment. When you've rebuilt your life to get in the best physical and mental shape possible, to feel confident and motivated, to be a positive role model for your family and friends, and then have the rug yanked out from under you, it's hard to accept. My mind is telling me is trying to pick myself up and refocus these efforts in different ways, but my heart is just . . . broken.

I guess this is why they have support forums :)
 
Bill said:
...................................................................................I started having migraines earlier this year. After having 3 of them, I decided it was a good idea to get checked out. The doctor had me go in for a CT scan of my brain and an echocardiogram. They told me that they check the hearts of people with sudden onset migraines because there's an off chance that there may be a hole in the heart, causing blot clots to be pumped into the brain. I believe this is what happened to Tedy Bruschi, causing him to have a stroke.

So, unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), during the routine checkup, they discovered my heart problem. I guess I'm lucky? Had they not checked, there's an extremely large possibility that this would have done me in.

I guess I'm just having trouble coping with the lifestyle adjustment. When you've rebuilt your life to get in the best physical and mental shape possible, to feel confident and motivated, to be a positive role model for your family and friends, and then have the rug yanked out from under you, it's hard to accept. My mind is telling me is trying to pick myself up and refocus these efforts in different ways, but my heart is just . . . broken.

I guess this is why they have support forums :)
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Bill,
I can't help you with exercise restrictions but just want to Welcome you to this amazing community of very supportive, knowledgable and sharing people. I also want to mention I had two OHS at Mass General within four years and had the best possible care. Being from Boston, we have two of the finest heart centers in the country and have access to the best surgeons. Mass General and Brigham & Womens are always in the top ten of rankings for cardiac care. You being so young and such good condition will be tremendously in your favor for a successful surgery. While this a very stressful event, the success rate is amazingly high.

Whatever exercise restrictions you may have now are almost surely only temporary until after you heal from surgery. After an appropriate healing time, almost all of us are able to return to active lifestyles.

Best wishes.
 
Bill,
So it sounds like you're having surgery to have the aneurysm repaired, and don't need a valve replacement? Either way, you're young, healthy, in good shape and should do just fine, heal well and be back to all of your physical activities as soon as you're healed.
 
Bill -

The Big Issue is a spike in Blood Pressure which results from weight lifting, especially if you hold your breath at any point.

The Other Big Issue is that there is a low but finite chance than an aneurism can disect or rupture at ANY time.

Some Surgeons use 5.0 cm as their 'trigger point' for recommending surgery.
Other Surgeons use 5.5 cm as their 'trigger point' for recommending surgery.

Our Moderator, Ross, suffered an Aortic Disection when his Aortic Aneurism measured 4.7 cm.
He was airlifted to the Cleveland Clinic and is one of the Lucky Ones to survive an anortic disection.

You would be correct to conclude that I am a believer that "Sooner is Better"
when Risks will only rise with waiting and there are no clear benefits to waiting.

'AL Capshaw'
 
As hard as it is, especially with your wedding coming up, I agree with the others, you better be safe and not do much before surgery... Especially with the aneurism. But the good news is, after surgery and some recovery time, you'll be basically as active as before, including weights and everything. I'd recommend a cardio rehab program as soon as you can get into one (they had me start one within a week of being home from surgery). That'll give you a good head start. To give you an idea of timing, they had me walking and riding a bike for the first 6-8 wks. Then they let me start doing some light weights (5-20 lbs) starting about wk 8 or so. I was running and starting to lift heavier weights somewhere around 10 wks. I've been building up slowly since then, keeping my heart rate under the point they want me to and increasing the weights slowly as well. The heart rate limits will depend on age (for me, being old, I'm supposed to keep my heart rate below about 160). As far as how much weight, that'll of course depend on what you're used to doing, but to give you an idea, I'm at about 13 wks post-op and am at about 75% of where I was before surgery (i.e. was curling 35 lb dumbells, now doing 25-30 lbs, or was benching about 200 lbs - 3 sets of 8-12 reps, and now doing about 150 lbs - 3 sets of 10-18 reps). I'll continue building up for a while, but plan on stopping a little short of where I was before, doing more reps and slightly lower weights. The one thing you need to be very, very careful about though, is to not lift any more than light weights for the first 3 months. You do NOT want to mess up your sternum before it heals, otherwise you could have permanent problems...
 
Hi Bill, I am sure it is difficult for you right now having found out about your aneurysm. But, it is so much better that you did find out. In a way it is a blessing that you did. After the surgery, you will be able to work on getting back in shape. Andy gave you alot of good info. I think you are doing the right thing by having it taken care of now. How exciting that you have a wedding to look forward to! Try to enjoy that aspect of your life right now. Thinking of you!
 
Weddings are always stressful for the bride and groom.

Heart surgery is always stressful for the patient and immediate love ones.

When needed, use those anti-anxiety meds judiciously to help you through this. That is what they are for and why they are prescribed. Don't let all this be any harder on you than necessary.
 
How much cardo excersize is hard to determine, but I would tell you to lay off the weights
 
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