Setting up base camp at the bottom of that mountain

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JenniferO

I am finally scheduled for surgery with Dr. Cosgrove at Cleveland Clinic on February 6, 7 or 8 (they give you a three-day window). While the "best" surgeons locally were very pessimistic about my chances for mitral valve repair, Dr. Cosgrove gives me a 95% chance of repair. So, we will be gathering up our courage and traveling to Cleveland. There simply were no other viable options that held out much hope.

As I look at that mountain, I am feeling a great deal of panic and fear as Ross has recently posted about. Sleeping and eating are both difficult from the physical symptoms of my heart flip-flopping inside my chest and the feeling that someone is sitting on my chest as well as the overwhelming anxiety.

I have been very impressed with the support that all of you have given to any request for help on this forum, and I will need your support in the coming weeks.

I am very thankful this website is here.

Jennifer
 
Jennifer-

Congratulations on getting your surgery scheduled and at Cleveland Clinic. Keep thinking of it as the beginning of a new and much healthier life for you and your loved ones. It sounds as if the surgeon is giving you the careful consideration you deserve. You will be just fine.

Best wishes to you, the best is yet to come.
 
Hi JenniferO,

Congratulations on setting a date! This is great! Don't be nervous. Know, that we are all here to support you. You are opening up a new door, climbing that mountain and before you know it you will be over the top! We will all see you through it. I will pray that the best will be done for you. We will be thinking of you in the coming weeks and supporting you all the way. The way I got through my whole ordeal(I hadn't found valvereplacement.com yet) is just think "Let be, let God." I put it in Gods hands so that I wasn't getting nervous about everything. For me it worked. I wasn't nervous where I couldn't sleep. Well, maybe just the day before surgery, but not during the weeks prior to surgery. I just put it in my mind that everything would work out, and I didn't know what was going to happen for sure either! I'm 9 months and almost 3 weeks post-op! As Nancy said "The best is yet to come" Keep us informed and take care!
 
It's good to hear of your choice. Dr. Cosgrove and crew are excellent, so you'll be in good hands, no, great hands.

I'm 60-65 miles South of CCF, so if there is anything I can do to help you at all, don't hesitate to ask.

I'm slowly coming to terms with the fear and anxiety. Maybe it's because I'm alway's out of breath and tired all the time. Tired of being sick and tired! There has to be a better side then living like this, so I'm sure I'll be setting up a date soon, myself. I only hope I can cut through the Insurance red tape and go to Cleveland also.

Newbie to the forum or not, I'm here if you want to talk.

God Bless,
Ross
 
Hi Jennifer

Knowing that you will be in great hands......things WILL work in your favor.

Wishing you all the best. See you on the other side of that 'mountain';) Now go get yourself some sleep and rest easy!
 
Good luck!

Good luck!

It's always gutwrenching to be waiting for surgery. I have often employed the ostrich method of problem management :D (i.e. I have stuck my head in the sand) so I never did worry much until a short time before when I worried so much I made up for the time I spent in the sand and then some LOL.

The Cleveland Clinic has a great reputation and the doctor saying that a repair is possible only shows that that is what differentiates a good surgeon from a great surgeon!
Like Gina said, you'll be in the very best of hands!

/jessica
 
Dear Jennifer - we are all ok with heart surgery til that dreadful day we get "the date"! Then the real truth hits like that ton of bricks and we are no longer in holding pattern, we are on the move on an unknown path with no map to guide us, plus its dark and we must feel our way. Each and every one of us here have walked that same rocky road, and believe me, we are here to walk again right along with you. Any time you feel lonely and afraid, just picture in your mind that there are dozens of us holding your hands as you go and whispering comfort and encouragement to you. Please take heart that you are traveling toward relief and renewed life and that you will be fine. Good examples are those here who are telling us of their new health, and you will get it, too. When you need to talk about it, you know where to come. We are only a click from you. God bless
 
Dear JenniferO,

Glad to hear you have a date, and I too realize that this must be a time of great anxiety for you, so afraid of the unknown. We all identify with how you feel and what you are going through, but let me try to put your heart at ease. This surgery will save your life! You will start to feel so much better, and life will be great again.
I personally am 16 months post-op and I just got done riding 5 miles on my recumbant bike. Normally I rather walk/run the treadmill but I hurt my foot last week and am unable to do that right now, so I had no other choice but to ride the bike instead. I want you to know that I was unable to ride a bike before surgery. I just hated riding it, because it was so hard on me, but now I realize that my heart was not up to riding bikes.
Now it feels good to ride my bike again and that's how good it will be again for you too. You just have to take time to get better, one little step at a time.
God will be with you through this all when you have to climb this what you think is the enormous mountain, but you will get there, and we all will be supporting you all the way until you reach the other side.
If you ever feel you need someone to talk to, please feel free to email me and I will send you my phone number.

Hugs,

Christina
Aortic Stenosis
AVR's 8/7/00 & 8/18/00
St.Jude's Mechanical
Coumadin 20mg a day.
 
Thank you all for the wonderful messages. I will keep reading them over and over again to the day of surgery to keep my courage up.

I recently saw a show on Discovery Health Channel which featured Steven Bolling at University of Michigan (I think) doing mitral valve repair on a 48 year old woman. I really identified when she said that she had just kept doing less and less, most of the time until toward the end without realizing it, just because it was too hard. I've been lowering my standards for physical activity for years, thinking it was just getting older, or arthritis or even depression. I didn't understand until this last year that it was my heart.

These last few months, there is no argument any more from me about needing this surgery -- I know I need it and I need it soon.

You're right, when that scheduling office called me and actually gave me a date (much earlier in February than I had thought it was going to be), it really sank in that I was going to do this.

By the way, I did get Diane Tusek's guided imagery CD and have been faithfully listening to it. I am no stranger to guided imagery and meditation CDs as I have acquired quite a selection of them over the years, but I would recommend this as a stress reliever.

I also just discovered the "calendar" on this website which is a great way of keeping track of everyone's dates. I will be adding my prayers to those who are reaching the summit sooner than I
- it looks like Jan, Eddie, Gary and little Michael all within about the next week.

Jennifer
 
Hi Jennifer

Hi Jennifer

Hey jennifer ...it's great you have a date ..and it's not too far away ...you have January to get everything organised ..I'm going to clean all my cupboards and house before mine ...just as well I'm on a six month waiting list ...the waiting can be very fustrating ...I think I've put it to the back of my mind and then ..bedtime and out the worries pop ..I'll be thinking of you ..for I know what you are going through ....we all do in here ..

Have a great Hogmanay ....and a healthy 2002
Scottie
 
Yes, Scottie, I can imagine that the waiting can be very frustrating for you. It was May of 2000 that a cardiologist told me I needed valve surgery and I needed it very soon. While I found two other cardiologist who said I could wait a bit, it became clear this summer that it was time to start getting serious about it. Doing the rounds of the potential surgeons and getting the tests done (I had to do a TEE twice because the first video film was accidentally destroyed by someone who taped over it and the hospital computer developed a virus so there was no digital backup). Then there were a series of other frustrating delays and all the worry about my insurance company (some of what remains) and now finally, I'm sure these last few weeks are going to go really fast.

I too have been thinking it would be good to get all the house cleaning done as I guess I won't be doing much for some time after the surgery ;)
 
That Mountain

That Mountain

"Those who are on top of the mountain......did not fall there." And once you get to the top.........you are on the other side!!!

I said that............many moons ago........and I am so glad our folks keep that mountain in their minds.

I have another mountain to climb.
 
Hi Bob-

Don't mean to interrupt Jennifer's thread, but you mentioned another mountain for yourself--what's going on? Please post and let us know.
 
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