brunoandbear
Well-known member
Well, I am having surgery on April 6th to replace the part of my ascending aorta with a dacron graft and either repair my bicuspid valve (which is in very very good condition) or - as I have decided is my way of placing this in Gods hands, if they can not, to put in a mechanical valve. I was very nervous about a month ago when I found out about the need for surgery, etc. - and everyone here has been great at answering questions about it, but since then I have just put it all in the Lords hands and have been letting him worry for me instead - and, well, my anxiety has gone down quite a bit.
I would be telling a lie though if I said I did not have some worry, in fact, increasing worry now that it is a few days away. I know it must be done, this is for sure. Putting it off, as I have read from another poster who did just that for a year, could lead to the aneurysm growing and causing further damage to my heart, and possibly requiring a full arch replacement. So, that is not such a great plan. However, it certainly has been tempting me due to the fact that each subsequent test I have had in the past few weeks has shown my aneurysm shrinking. For a full history, please refer to my thread in the Bicuspid forum. In brief though, it measured 5.6 cm back in February via CT scan, 5.1 - 5.2 cm back in early March via TEE and then 5.0 - 5.1 cm a week and a half later via CT Angio scan.
A small part of me says inside - hey, lets just put this off and see if we can shrink it a lot more. The more logical part inside me says that most of this shrinking is due to the radical lifestyle change I made a month and a half ago which was to severely limit my physical activity, eliminate as much salt out of my diet as possible (I now eat between 500 mg - 1200 mg a day of sodium at most, versus 3000 - 6000 mg a day prior) and in the past month, taking 25 mg of Toporol a day. This has helped quite a bit, as my pain has also decreased significantly in the past month and a half also. I used to feel like I was choking every night when I went to bed, lately I have not, nor have I felt like I am choking even after moving around for a short while. Now, I am not completely without symptoms - as I do develop the neck pressure and slight choking if I do maintain standing activity for an extended duration (say 30 minutes to an hour) but it definitely has improved a lot.
Before a couple of months ago, I didn't have these symptoms at all. This tells me the aneurysm does swell and shrink, which, is not good at all, though I know the aorta does do this normally depending on activity level. The point of it is simply that I need the surgery to get back to feeling normal and to live a normal life. I tell myself this every day. Without it, I am confined to the house and in those electric riding carts within stores. So, I have to look forward as to getting past this and the future family my wife and I are trying to start.
So, the surgery is scheduled for April 6th at Emory University Hospital here in Atlanta by Doctor Edward Chen. There are only a few things that I am still wondering about and if anyone has any advice (I can't find any info on any of this anywhere, other than my Cadiologist saying it is minimal and not to worry about it) is:
a. Is there anything I can do, either via diet or activity, that I can do to reduce and minimize any risk of cognitive impairment because of this procedure.
b. If there is not, is there anything I can do post-op, either through refusal of pain medication or certain activity that I can do to reduce the risk of this.
c. Is there anything I can request of the surgeon to minimize these risks?
All I can do right now is place it all in Gods hands which I have done, but, as my Minister so well put it last week when I met with him and summed it up nicely - he said God gives us knowledge and wisdom so that we may have doctors and surgeons whom are able to help solve our medical problems - and solve them early on so that we may have better lives.
- Brian
I would be telling a lie though if I said I did not have some worry, in fact, increasing worry now that it is a few days away. I know it must be done, this is for sure. Putting it off, as I have read from another poster who did just that for a year, could lead to the aneurysm growing and causing further damage to my heart, and possibly requiring a full arch replacement. So, that is not such a great plan. However, it certainly has been tempting me due to the fact that each subsequent test I have had in the past few weeks has shown my aneurysm shrinking. For a full history, please refer to my thread in the Bicuspid forum. In brief though, it measured 5.6 cm back in February via CT scan, 5.1 - 5.2 cm back in early March via TEE and then 5.0 - 5.1 cm a week and a half later via CT Angio scan.
A small part of me says inside - hey, lets just put this off and see if we can shrink it a lot more. The more logical part inside me says that most of this shrinking is due to the radical lifestyle change I made a month and a half ago which was to severely limit my physical activity, eliminate as much salt out of my diet as possible (I now eat between 500 mg - 1200 mg a day of sodium at most, versus 3000 - 6000 mg a day prior) and in the past month, taking 25 mg of Toporol a day. This has helped quite a bit, as my pain has also decreased significantly in the past month and a half also. I used to feel like I was choking every night when I went to bed, lately I have not, nor have I felt like I am choking even after moving around for a short while. Now, I am not completely without symptoms - as I do develop the neck pressure and slight choking if I do maintain standing activity for an extended duration (say 30 minutes to an hour) but it definitely has improved a lot.
Before a couple of months ago, I didn't have these symptoms at all. This tells me the aneurysm does swell and shrink, which, is not good at all, though I know the aorta does do this normally depending on activity level. The point of it is simply that I need the surgery to get back to feeling normal and to live a normal life. I tell myself this every day. Without it, I am confined to the house and in those electric riding carts within stores. So, I have to look forward as to getting past this and the future family my wife and I are trying to start.
So, the surgery is scheduled for April 6th at Emory University Hospital here in Atlanta by Doctor Edward Chen. There are only a few things that I am still wondering about and if anyone has any advice (I can't find any info on any of this anywhere, other than my Cadiologist saying it is minimal and not to worry about it) is:
a. Is there anything I can do, either via diet or activity, that I can do to reduce and minimize any risk of cognitive impairment because of this procedure.
b. If there is not, is there anything I can do post-op, either through refusal of pain medication or certain activity that I can do to reduce the risk of this.
c. Is there anything I can request of the surgeon to minimize these risks?
All I can do right now is place it all in Gods hands which I have done, but, as my Minister so well put it last week when I met with him and summed it up nicely - he said God gives us knowledge and wisdom so that we may have doctors and surgeons whom are able to help solve our medical problems - and solve them early on so that we may have better lives.
- Brian
