StretchL
Well-known member
Today was the first visit with my cardiologist, Dr. George Vetrovec, the chief of cardiology at Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital, since my surgery.
I was a bit concerned because the post-op echo report from Beth Israel on 12/15 showed "mild aortic regurgitation."
Like the chief of surgery at BIH, Dr. V said that echo reports are more technical documents than subtle diagnostic tools, and that the folks who read the echoes seem to find problems that aren't really there, or aren't really significant enough to be worth the mention.
Remember that Dr. V was initially not enthused by my interest in the Ross Procedure, and recommended a St. Jude's mechanical valve, so he doesn't have an a priori pro-Ross prejudice.
But today he listened *very* closely to my heart, moreso than I remember him doing before, took a good hard look at the echo report, and declared that I had no systolic murmur, and only, possibly, a very, very minor diastolic murmur.
He thought my numbers from cardiac rehab looked great, that I looked great at nine weeks post-op, that I can continue to walk/run/jog to get back into shape, and that I can take my Boy Scout troop skiing in two weeks.
I asked Dr. V if he really thought I'd made the right decision with the Ross. He reiterated that the Ross is a very difficult, technical surgery to perform, and said that after his talk with Dr. Stelzer before my surgery, he knew that "for whatever reason, this guy has dedicated his life to this particular technique. I think you made a good choice."
(For those of you out there considering the Ross, I implore you: Find a surgeon who has done as many of these as possible! Surgical experience with the Ross is a MAJOR a predictor of the success rate of the operation!)
On top of it all, I had them run a lipid panel last Friday and the results today, for the first time in decades, put my cholesterol numbers square in the middle of the recommended range. (I'm on Vytorin, as Zocor just didn't do the trick.)
So. Damn. I'm a happy camper.
Remember that I was born with that bicuspid valve, so I've never, ever had a cardiologist listen to my heart and say anything other than "That's quite a murmur you have in there!"
I know I sound like I'm gloating, but please forgive me.
You can't imagine how happy and blessed I feel right now.
And although she'll never read this, I want to give a big shout out to my 84 year old mom, who decided NOT to have me undergo surgery in 1963 as a 5 month old, but instead got a second opinion that allowed me to wait 43 years for surgery. Sure, my valve was deteriorating for 43 years, but I was asymptomatic, and open heart surgery technology sure as hell was improving during those years.
T H A N K S M O M ! ! ! ! ! I L O V E Y O U ! ! ! ! !
I was a bit concerned because the post-op echo report from Beth Israel on 12/15 showed "mild aortic regurgitation."
Like the chief of surgery at BIH, Dr. V said that echo reports are more technical documents than subtle diagnostic tools, and that the folks who read the echoes seem to find problems that aren't really there, or aren't really significant enough to be worth the mention.
Remember that Dr. V was initially not enthused by my interest in the Ross Procedure, and recommended a St. Jude's mechanical valve, so he doesn't have an a priori pro-Ross prejudice.
But today he listened *very* closely to my heart, moreso than I remember him doing before, took a good hard look at the echo report, and declared that I had no systolic murmur, and only, possibly, a very, very minor diastolic murmur.
He thought my numbers from cardiac rehab looked great, that I looked great at nine weeks post-op, that I can continue to walk/run/jog to get back into shape, and that I can take my Boy Scout troop skiing in two weeks.
I asked Dr. V if he really thought I'd made the right decision with the Ross. He reiterated that the Ross is a very difficult, technical surgery to perform, and said that after his talk with Dr. Stelzer before my surgery, he knew that "for whatever reason, this guy has dedicated his life to this particular technique. I think you made a good choice."
(For those of you out there considering the Ross, I implore you: Find a surgeon who has done as many of these as possible! Surgical experience with the Ross is a MAJOR a predictor of the success rate of the operation!)
On top of it all, I had them run a lipid panel last Friday and the results today, for the first time in decades, put my cholesterol numbers square in the middle of the recommended range. (I'm on Vytorin, as Zocor just didn't do the trick.)
So. Damn. I'm a happy camper.
Remember that I was born with that bicuspid valve, so I've never, ever had a cardiologist listen to my heart and say anything other than "That's quite a murmur you have in there!"
I know I sound like I'm gloating, but please forgive me.
You can't imagine how happy and blessed I feel right now.
And although she'll never read this, I want to give a big shout out to my 84 year old mom, who decided NOT to have me undergo surgery in 1963 as a 5 month old, but instead got a second opinion that allowed me to wait 43 years for surgery. Sure, my valve was deteriorating for 43 years, but I was asymptomatic, and open heart surgery technology sure as hell was improving during those years.
T H A N K S M O M ! ! ! ! ! I L O V E Y O U ! ! ! ! !
