Surgery on May21

[gus67]

Hello everyone

I am a 34 year old colorado native undergoing aortic root replacement with a human allograft for bicuspid aortic valve and root dilation on May 21. I had a TEE and it measured to about 5.5 cm. I am presently asymptomatic so log as I don't sprint. I have also completed the 3 units of autologous blood donation today . I was pleasantly surprsied to find this site. God bless you all for supporting the those undergoing valve replacement

The surgery is being performed at one of the local hospitals and the surgeon has excellent reputation when it comes to this form of surgery. He is supposed to be the best in the city of Denver. We have had a frank discussion on my choice of valve ( I didn't want to be on coumadin).

As the day is drawing closer my anxiety level is high. I am trying to deal with the stress just by relaxation and deep breathing techniques. I am finding that my preocupation with my condition has been affectng my work and sleep. I am also involved in a group therapy session to deal with the crises.

I am looking for suggestion in these areas

1. How did you deal wth the stress? Are there tested techniques?

2. I have also been told that my left ventricle is enlarged which has lengthened the cordae tendinae (valvular cords) of the mital valve. Frankly they think that one may have ruptured but there is no mitral valve leakage yet (on TEE and the transthoracic echo). However, the cardiologist is worried that once ventricular remodelling takes place (the heart enlargement subsides) after the valve replaement, this may become overt mitral regurgitation. But they are not reccommending mitral valve replacement as yet. I know I am sounding a lot technical, but has anyone experienced a similar problem with miral regurgitation that was precipitated by ventricular remodeling?

3. Iare there anyways I have to prepare for surgery other than replenishing my dietary iron supplies?

Thanks in advance

Gus

 

[Perrster]

Welcome

Welcome

Well Gus, it sure seems like you already have all your ducks lined up.

To answer question #1. There is a series of tapes available that some have tried, but I can't recall the names right now. There's also website links.

Someone else will surely fill in the blanks here.

BTW, a Hearty welcome to the valvereplacement.com support group. I was unfortunate to not know about it until long after post surgery.

Best regards and keep us posted.

 

[Rain]

Welcome to the site, Gus!

Welcome to the site, Gus!

Hello Gus,

I?m a Colorado native too!!

Your Doctor wouldn?t happen to be one Mr. John Propp would it?? He is the most awesome person. He replaced my mitral valve 4-6-00 at The Medical Center of Aurora.

Anxiety and stress in anticipation of the surgery are the very worst part of the whole heart surgery deal. I didn?t have a specific way of dealing with it. Just one foot in front of the other until I got to ?the other side?. I know a positive attitude is worth a million.

Don?t be afraid to ask those doctors a zillion questions.

Welcome to the site,
Rain

 

[Christina]

Hello Gus,

Welcome to the greatest support group on the web for valve replacement. You will not find a warmer group of people that will do whatever they can to help anyone to the other side of the sometimes "BIGGEST" mountain of their lives.
I will be two years post-op this coming August and went through two AVR surgeries within eleven days that month. (Read my story why) I was diagnosed with Congenital Aortic Stenosis and was near heart failure. Had surgery within 3 weeks.
The anxiety and stress you feel right now is very normal but like Rain before me told you; waiting for the big day is the worst of all. How I personally dealt with the stress was that I had a need to talk about it and ask lots of questions. I wanted to hear how other people did it, and how they got through it. The news about what was about to happen to me came as a big surprise. I had no idea! The anxiety and stress at times got the worst of me and it was difficult to think of anything else. It was on my mind day and night. Had difficulty sleeping, and if it wouldn't have been for the people on the web, and one close friend in town I would have been a total mess.
The surgery itself is really not as bad as it sounds. No picknick though, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Very little real pain, just a lot of discomfort. The first few days after surgery can be a little rough, but staff in the hospital is very helpful and they do whatever they can to make a patient comfortable. If possible get a PRIVATE room.
It is also good that you stay local. I hope you have lots of support from family and friends who can help you through the rough spots the first two week. I stayed in town and think I had a great surgeon. Good reputation, and been doing this for the past 30 years he told me. That was good enough for me. I liked him from the start. He recommended a mechanical valve because of my age. (was 53 at the time in 2000)
No driving for at least 5 weeks, and no heavier lifting than 10 pounds the first 6 weeks I believe.
Other people will come along and give you more specific answers to your other questions, as I cannot help you with those. We are all different.

Come often and ask away.

Christina
Congenital Aortic Stenosis
AVR's 8/7/00 & 8/18/00
St.Jude's Mechanical

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi gus!
welcome to this site. everyone here can really understand what you are going through, because we've all (or our significant others have) been there. the folks on this site are just the greatest. they really helped me through (they still help me!) my husband joey's surgery. please stick around, i think you will find it helpful in dealing with the whole experience.
as you've probably read, the waiting is the worst part. once the day comes, it will be over before you know it. it's just the days/weeks leading up to the big event... they are really tough.
when i was stressed i used diane tusek's guided imagery tapes/cd's to help me relax. i still use them from time to time when i can't fall asleep or need to "shift gears". joey also used them pre- and post- surgery.
you can contact diane tusek (who is just lovely) at: www.guidedimageryinc.com or [email protected]

i hope this helped. please come back and visit. we will be more than happy to keep you company while you wait for your day.
be well, sylvia

 

[gus67]

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you all for the support and encouragement.

You are right that the worst part of it all is waiting and trying to be 'normal' prior to surgery. Being without symptoms and getting on with my daily life with the looming surgery is the toughest part. Things that made me happy previoously have now become a chore and a drag.

Sylviaasgur and Perry, thank you. I shall check out the website and tapes. I had tried such tapes 4 years ago just for kicks and had found it to be very useful.

Rain, hi, nice to meet a fellow Colorado native. I am with Kaiser permanante and the surgery will be performed at St. Jo's. Dr. Kevin Miller is my surgeon. He was able to put me to ease the very first visit. he gave me a bunch of medical literature on different valves and outcomes. I checked him out with other physician friends of mine and they all have very high opinion of him. I also checked out his complication rate which is very minimal. I found that the involvement of residents at St. Jo's cardiothoracic unit is very minimal which was important to me because I did not want anyone to learn on me.

Christina, thank you for the encouraging words. The fact that you had two AVR surgery, gives me strength at this much needed time. You are also right about the post-surgical limitaion of activity- cardiologist said no driving for 5 weeks and no lifting heavier than 15 lbs for 3 months.

My parents are staying with me at the time of surgery. Having the surgery locally will helpful logisticaly. The psychologist from Kaiser suggested meditation and breathing exercises. He also scheduled a group therapy session in 2 days. I did not want to take antidepressants as it may interact with other medications at the time of hospitalization and a delay in the onset of action (3weeks).

I am supposed to go in for lab tests and physiotherapy prelims on the 15th. Right now, I am loading up on iron tablets trying to make up for the iron lost during autologous blood donation. With my own blood transfusions at the time of surgery, I do not have to worry about Hepatitis, HIV and other blood bourne diseases, though the risk of contracting those from blood transfusion is miniscule.

 

[gus67]

Does mitral valve go bad with AVR?

Does mitral valve go bad with AVR?

Wonder if anyone had input on the second of my questions i.e

How high is the chance that mitral valve may go bad after aortic root has been replaced. My echo tape was sent to Mayo clinic and the cardiologists there did not recommend replacing the mitral valve at the same time as aortic root.

 

[Mara]

Hey Gus

As far as stress management, try to think about how well you will feel after the surgery.
I know you said you are asymptomatic except if you sprint. Yah, a lot of us felt that way. As it got closer for me I knew I was fatigued and that was my only symptom. I couldn't chase the dog around as much, and I needed an afternoon nap, luckily I work from home.

The surgery is big and scary, but not as big and scary as you have it built up in your mind to be right now.

You're young (I am 34, 33 when I had my surgery) and will bounce back quickly from it.
One thing that helped me a lot was to think of all the slobby old men who get by-pass because they spent the last 40 years smoking, and drinking and eating high-fat, fried foods and they get through by-pass with no problems. Hey, you'll have it muscled in a sinch, right?

My personal remedy for pre-op stress: Plan your wedding. I got married 5 days before my surgery. I didn't have time to think about anything else. It really helped !

Be aware that there is some depression post-op, too. So if you feel that you are leaning toward it, get your doc to give you a prescription for something. It can really help get you over the hurdle and most likely will not interfere with any meds. I was on Celexa for about 6 months. It also helped with my fuzzy-headed feeling from the by-pass pump.

Ways to prepare pre-op for surgery: Don't get me started. Try to eat right, get good sleep, take a anti-oxidant vitamin supplement and an iron supplement. Hydrate yourself. I did some other things with a complimentary medicine MD. If you are interested e-mail me ([email protected]). I think Perry also has done some complimentary medicine type things, too.


My heart was enlarged too. So far it is shrinking up a little and in a year from my surgery (just 2 short months) I will have what I am getting, if that makes sense. I nevcer had root dialation nor mitral valve involvement, so I guess I am not much help there.

Good luck, and no stressing. You'll do great!
-Mara