cuoricino
www.thoughtsfromabroad.com
Hi everyone!! It's me again: BAV girl with ascending aortic aneurysm, looking at an OHS in Italy this summer.
So I'll get you up to speed on where I'm at:
Had a TEE last Tuesday (oh holy crap, it was awful... how am I gonna cope with the surgery if I thought THAT was bad?) I don't mean to scare anyone who needs to go in for a TEE, but I was completely awake (and so were my regurgitation reflexes apparently) and although I hadn't eaten anything, my body just wanted me to throw up! Gross. I also have to add that vomiting is my very LEAST favorite thing in the entire world so I was in hell. I also had the scary sensation that I couldn't breathe, and they had warned me not to swallow during the exam or else it would take longer than necessary. So there I was, swallowing instinctively (I couldn't help it!) and getting angry at myself because everytime I swallowed I knew it was gonna make me stay there that much longer... and I was trying to relax and BREATHE.... thank god my boyfriend was there to keep me calm, I would have never been able to do it.
AAAAAAnyway, I got the results today, and the only thing my "lay" eyes can dechiper is that the aneurysm is at 5cm (up from 4.9). Yikes. The surgeon that requested the exam is unreachable (he's always hard to reach and his secretary is on vacation) so I've made a few phonecalls to the other surgeons I've been in touch with and at the end of the day I have a consult set up for Wednesday in Bologna with a well-reknowned surgeon and I have
SET THE DATE
with another surgeon I had already had a consult with back in early June. I'm on "the list" and his secretary gave me a tentative mid-July timeframe and she'd call about a week pre-surgery so the surgeon can re-examine my case and get in any other exams he may want to before I go under the knife.
There's one thing that hasn't yet been cleared up and that is the whether or not they can repair the valve and replace just the ascending aorta, or if they have to replace both. The unreachable surgeon requested the TEE for this purpose but I can't get my hands on him! So I'll ask the Dr. on Wednesday during my consult and definitely discuss it with whichever lucky surgeon gets to do "the honors".
I have to say that mid-July was much sooner than I had immagined and I'm in a state between happy and scared!!!
I'll keep you guys updated and in the meanwhile I'll follow all your guys' progress.... even if I'm usually just a silent peeper at the threads.
ciao
So I'll get you up to speed on where I'm at:
Had a TEE last Tuesday (oh holy crap, it was awful... how am I gonna cope with the surgery if I thought THAT was bad?) I don't mean to scare anyone who needs to go in for a TEE, but I was completely awake (and so were my regurgitation reflexes apparently) and although I hadn't eaten anything, my body just wanted me to throw up! Gross. I also have to add that vomiting is my very LEAST favorite thing in the entire world so I was in hell. I also had the scary sensation that I couldn't breathe, and they had warned me not to swallow during the exam or else it would take longer than necessary. So there I was, swallowing instinctively (I couldn't help it!) and getting angry at myself because everytime I swallowed I knew it was gonna make me stay there that much longer... and I was trying to relax and BREATHE.... thank god my boyfriend was there to keep me calm, I would have never been able to do it.
AAAAAAnyway, I got the results today, and the only thing my "lay" eyes can dechiper is that the aneurysm is at 5cm (up from 4.9). Yikes. The surgeon that requested the exam is unreachable (he's always hard to reach and his secretary is on vacation) so I've made a few phonecalls to the other surgeons I've been in touch with and at the end of the day I have a consult set up for Wednesday in Bologna with a well-reknowned surgeon and I have
There's one thing that hasn't yet been cleared up and that is the whether or not they can repair the valve and replace just the ascending aorta, or if they have to replace both. The unreachable surgeon requested the TEE for this purpose but I can't get my hands on him! So I'll ask the Dr. on Wednesday during my consult and definitely discuss it with whichever lucky surgeon gets to do "the honors".
I have to say that mid-July was much sooner than I had immagined and I'm in a state between happy and scared!!!
I'll keep you guys updated and in the meanwhile I'll follow all your guys' progress.... even if I'm usually just a silent peeper at the threads.
ciao