Welcome LA Cruiser

[Granbonny]

You posted a very interesting question low down on forum about having a pig valve for 45 years. Please tell us more. How are you feeling? So you were age 11?...I think you win the grand prize Let us here from you..Bonnie

 

[LA_Cruiser]

THX 4 the welcome

THX 4 the welcome

I've been on the 'net' about 3 years and can't believe it took me all this time to do some research on heart surgery.

I was 12 so it 'might' be 44 years ago, that's why I stated 'going on 45.'

..so I posted the following in 'resources' and am finding out via replies that my operation 'probably' didn't take place (could this be just a dream, ..many times I feel like a s
zombie).

After 5 years my doctor was surprised that I was 'doing great', he stated that 'the valve' was only supposed to last 5 years and that, --oh, If I were you I wouldn't plan on marriage.
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Posted in resources:

I'm trying to find out the longest a pig valve has lasted.

I've got one going on 45 years and wondering if it still has 20 to 40 years 'to go.'

...really, I feel awful, wondering if I'll wake up tomorrow.

THX & God Bless
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I've seen about three replies that indicate that such operation couldn't have taken place.

The following was my response:
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Sorry for not replying earlier, I don't have 'sufficient' access to a computer.

--So this means my doctor lied to me?

I would NOT bet my life on the information I provided.

I was twelve years old when a stray 22 caliber bullet almost crossed my heart (it's still lodged
in the upper left-hand chamber).

I had three surgeries within one year, my last stay was four days short of six months (I was
contemplating escaping via a window from my third floor prison when the doctor told me I could go
home IF I promised to 'take it easy').

The following is an email to the LA Times right after my post at this forum:

[email protected] >>>>>>

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I'm trying to find out how long pig valves last.

I have one 'going on' its 45th aniversery and wondering how long it will last.

How would I rate as to 'the individual with the longest living transplanted pig valve?'

I was told about two years ago that I should 'submit' to my 'next' open-heart surgery but I haven't
had the time (three hospitals total have given me this advise).

THX & God Bless

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God Bless

 

[Nancy]

Cruiser-

Do you remember the name of the surgeon who performed your heart surgery and where it was done? There weren't too many at that time doing heart surgery, let alone valve replacements. Anything is possible though, apparently at that time lots of experimental stuff was going on and maybe not all of it was "on the record" so to speak. Just because all the history shows different dates for heart valve replacements, doesn't mean that you weren't a "guinea pig" case, done to save your life. Surgeons have been trying to fix up people's hearts for centuries.

If this is a for sure thing, you are certainly an interesting case.

Think of it folks, I may be in La-La land, but what if Cruiser's pig valve somehow got repopulated with some of his own cells like the theory of the Synergraft valve?

At any rate, Cruiser, you need to get yourself to a cardiologist pronto to find out what's going on with your health because you're feeling poorly. Maybe some of the testing they can do will reveal your mysterious heart problem. So call today and get an appointment. I'm sure they'll find you fascinating.

 

[LA_Cruiser]

guinea pig?

guinea pig?

I had my surgery in 'Hell' Paso TX Providence Memorial Hospital, now owned by Colombia Health Systems.

My Doctor: E.S. Crossett retired to nearby Las Cruces, NM.

UCLA in Westwood (West Los Angeles) has all my medical records and were the second hospital (over a year ago) that recommended IMMEDIATE surgery, the third one (Austin TX) indicated that if I 'walked-out' I wouldn't last two weeks (about 6 months ago), ditto El Paso TX two years ago.

Do you suppose I got a Duracell battery instead of a piggy valve in that third operation?

On about my 'fifth aniversary' my doctor ask me if I would mind being interviewed by a magazine publisher ('Life' or 'Look' I think) and I responded that no, I wouldn't mind.

Nothing ever came of that.

...come to think of it, he might've said Duracell and not piggy valve.

God Bless

 

[srwieland]

Hi LA_Cruiser,

If all those hospitals/doctors are telling you it's that urgent, please get it taken care of without delay. You probably have an enlarged heart and advanced congestive heart failure, which are definitely treatable but can (will) be deadly if you don't get it fixed.

Whatever you had done 45 years ago was certainly very early on for any type of heart procedure and thus very interesting to all of us, especially if you find out exactly what was done then and what can be done now.

We are here to help you however we can, as heart buddies who've been through major open heart surgeries and can share that experience with you. There's a lot of up to date knowledge here to share once we know more exactly what's going on, so please take advantage.

Don't be too afraid of the hospitals and doctors, although certainly some apprehension and care to look after yourself is healthy. You will receive lots of help from members on this site about how to navigate the 'system'.

Above all, your condition is in all likelihood fixable if you get to it right away, so, again, please don't delay and get yourself taken care of now, even if that means having major surgery done.

We will all be rooting and praying for you. Keep us posted.

Good luck and God bless.

 

[Nancy]

Hey Cruiser-

It looks as if we've got someone "famous" here as far as heart valve surgery goes. So we all want you to stick around and get to know the group.

I bet you had a terrible time of it those many years ago, as a young man, going through some pretty terrible surgery, and 3 of them to boot. It must have left you with a bad feeling about heart surgery and maybe even about hospitals and doctors in general.

My husband had his first valve surgery 25 years ago, and then he had to stay in the hospital for quite a while and he was on the operating table for a long time. He had his additional surgeries a couple of years ago, and things have come a long way from "ancient times". The surgery is shorter, the hospital stay is shorter, the care is far superior and with the new medications for pain, the recovery time is much less painful. Some people have said that they had very little pain, only discomfort.

Some people have gone back to work in 4 weeks, so it's about what you'd expect from any major surgery.

Please, please get on the phone today (it's still early in California) and make an appointment for yourself. We all want to see you get healthier. If it's time to retire Ole piggy, have them pack it in a mayonaise jar with some formaldehyde and you can pat him on his little head every day. He sure has worked hard for you.

Of course, I'm hoping that surgery isn't necessary, and that it's something which can be taken care of with meds.

But at any rate, please get an appointment. You won't get any better just wondering what's going on, you need some medical help.

Tell us how you did.

 

[Zipper]

Hi Cruiser and welcome,

Not too many of us 'west coasters' on the heart message boards. I'm in California in the bay area close to S.F.

I'm curious as to why you are not moving foward with help for your symptoms. As many have stated, the procedures these days are much improved since you had it done. Wow...I can hardly believe your luck with this valve! You really must have set some kind of record for the Guiness book!

Take care and best of luck to you!

Zipper *~*

 

[LA_Cruiser]

Me, afraid of doctors?

Me, afraid of doctors?

Me, afraid of doctors?

It's the

1) 'Crushed-iced mattress

2) My inability to poke a hole through it to 'drink' some ice (they wouldn't give me water even with a mouth drier then the Sahara desert),

3) The pulling of the stitches

4) Twenty-four shots per day (I couldn't SLEEP at night 'cause the nurse would wake me up hourly to ask me, 'where do you want it this time'

....that bring me bad memories.

I'm going to try to locate my doctor for your questions that I can't answer.

If I do, I'll ask him to read your posts and answer those questions directly.

I hope my doctor's and his assistant's pics load-up. I've never tried this before (he is the one on the left side).

God Bless

 

[LA_Cruiser]

American Medical Association

American Medical Association

I emailed The American Medical Association the following:



I have a pig valve transplanted onto my heart about 44-45 years ago.

How many transplants and when is the earliest before mine?

I posted such a question at
http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2517

and it seems, according to replies, that the earliest was in 1971.

Other postings at:

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=23346#post23346

...ask me questions that are 'Greek' to me.

Can you please locate my doctor: Dr. E.S. Crossett, retired in Las Cruces NM, and ask him If he can help me answer some questions on the above message board?

My operations took place about 1958 in El Paso TX Providence Memorial Hospital (now Colombia Health Systems).

If you do contact him, please give him my email.

THX & God Bless!

-End of email-------------------------------------------------------------

As for 'taking the time' for an operation:

My 'piggy friend' and I are up against a wall to play Russian roulette a bit longer.

I've always called 'it' BUDDY, do you suppose after all these years I oughta name it (sorry for the 'it' description BUDDY, but Dr. Crossett never divulged your gender)?

God Bless

 

[hensylee]

Dear La - if you don't have this taken care of you might not get it taken care of - get my drift?

Scottie also had childhood surgeries and like you, had a great dread of her recent surgery but she has come through it, albeit not without great apprehension and resentment that this should still be happening to her, and one can't blame her. The things that hurt you in childhood affect you for all of your life. So, if you decide, you will just have to bite the bullet (maybe the one in your chest?) and go ahead with it. Meanwhile, there is this board of fine folks who will hang around with you while you go through these difficulties. God bless

 

[ALCapshaw]

Cruiser,

Please tell us which (valve) position you pig valve is in. Yours is certainly an interesting case.

'AL'

 

[Nancy]

Hi Cruiser-

Your doctor and his assistants may seem like little green men to you, but you know what? They saved your life and if this valve has lasted for 45 years, they did a fantastic job for the times it was done in and what you had to go through was probably because they didn't know how to do it any differently. They don't use crushed ice mattresses any more. Once you get your breathing tube out, they can give you ice chips for your thirst. You will be up and walking about the second day after surgery and eating at about the same time. You will be discharged from the hospital if all goes well, in a week or less. That's got to be different than 45 years ago.

You may still have lots of blood draws because they're very, very necessary, but there are things they can do for you if you fear the pain of needles. My daughter's mother-in-law had a problem with needles, and they numbed her arm with some topical pain killer prior to the needle, like the dentist does.

For the most part after surgery you will be on pain medication and your pain will be minimal.

You can feel free to speak with your doctor and/or surgeon about your fears if surgery is necessary. There are medications which can help with anxiety, and there are also relaxation techniques which can help. In these days, the doctors are much more concerned with the patient's creature comforts and will do everything in their power to make sure you are comfortable physically and emotionally.

You haven't mentioned how you are feeling, other than the fact that you aren't feeling very well. Tell us a little bit more about what your symptoms are. Most of us aren't doctors, but it does help to talk about it with people who have been there and done that.

If you have gone as far as to do research into your problems on the internet, then I think you know that you will be following through with a doctor's appointment. We all want to live and feel better, and you can. But you will never get better, if you don't take that first step and make a call to the doctor. It's OK to be afraid, it really is. I bet everyone here has been to some degree or other. But do it anyway. Work through your fear because this is really life-saving surgery if you need it.

You have a lot of years ahead of you, why not enjoy them.

We all care here and want you to survive. You are a true pioneer and warrior.

Please keep in mind that this whole website is filled with people who have had heart surgery, and their families and friends. Some of the patients have had more than one surgery. My husband has had 3 of them. Feel free to ask any questions you might have, we'll do our best to walk you through whatever you have to face. We'll be here for you. We understand what this is about from the patient's side of the surgery.

Take care,

 

[Granbonny]

Get your records

Get your records

from the hospital in El Paso in 1958. Have them fax it to you..They keep records from way back when. I know, I was a medical records Librarian for 2 years. Bonnie

 

[LA_Cruiser]

BUDDY and I here again

BUDDY and I here again

I e-mailed the following to the 'research' department at UCLA:
----------------------------------------------------------->


Dear Dr. Leonard H. Rome, Senior Associate Dean for Research, UCLA Westwood,

I need 'a little bit of help.'

I had a pig valve transplanted onto my heart about 44-45 years ago.

I'm trying to research how many transplants and when was the earliest before mine?

I posted a similar question at

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2517

and it seems, according to replies, that the earliest was in 1971.
Other postings at:

http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=23346#post23346

...ask me questions that are 'Greek' to me.

I went in, through 'emergency,' to your hospital about a year ago.

What's the proceedure/cost of obtaining copies of my records, do I need to request such in person?

THX & God Bless
----------------------------------- Edd of e-mail

I've always 'thought' that these operations were common at about the 1930's or so.

Do you suppose I was 'air-lifted' to Mars for my operation?

My symptoms?

1) The veins in my nostrils feel like they're going to burst (since about a week ago).

2) The heaviest chest pains (up 'til now) I've had. Constantly for about two weeks. On a scale of 1 to 10, like they ask you in emergency, ... a 15 (I,ve had 11's and 12's a few times, briefly).

3) I can still count with about 2% of my 'normal' stamina.

4) Constant headache, about 4 days.


The best part is that now, I can eat my desert in peace.

...God Bless

 

[Nancy]

Cruiser-

From what you have said, I guess you are having breathing problems, with serious chest pains, are extremely tired like you only are working with 2 percent of your ability and are having terrible headaches.

Cruiser, you HAVE to get yourself to a doctor with all due speed. If you can't get to one, you have to go to the ER.

You won't have to worry about getting your records from anywhere. The doctors will get all the info they need to treat you from tests they will do. If they need any records, they can obtain them probably faster than you could.

I really think you will have to put your fears aside if you want to go on with your life, and ask for the medical help that you need and follow through with what they tell you to do.

You know, you are a very special person and with all that you have been through, you don't want to throw it all away because you are afraid.

There is some reason God has taken good care of you all these years. There must be a purpose for you in life. You've got to take good care of this precious gift and help God to help you.

Please call and get an appointment on Monday and if you feel worse over the weekend, then go to the ER, and DO what they say to do.

 

[LA_Cruiser]

THX a million Janie!

THX a million Janie!

I will 'snail-mail' him my questions.

He kept mentioning the 'aeortic valve.'

One was replaced and the other one got 'a patch.'

Anthony NM is half-ways between El Paso and Las Cruces, I worked there, at La Tuna Federal prison, as an automotive instructor in about 1972.

Again, THX a million & God Bless

 

[LA_Cruiser]

...just remembering.

...just remembering.

..from the point of the bullet wound to the next 48 t0 50 hours.

I was transported by ambulance to Thomason Hospital.

In the emergency room they 'checked' me, put a band-aid on my right arm and took me to a warehouse-size room with many patients scattered all over.

I believed I was there waiting for my release notice.

My mom would visit me twice a day for these two days.

I would just lay there taking frequent naps and staring at the ceiling.

The nurses would tell me 'to get up and walk,' that I shouldn't 'just lay there'. I would just look at them and not respond, I didn't understand why I felt so weak.

The bed was about 3 foot high and I would struggle to climb down to walk slowly (like a 100 or more year old person) about 40 feet to he rest room.

I'd walk back at that 'ridiculous' pace and labored to climb back into bed.

The nurses would tell me, 'why are you going back to bed, you should be walking around.'

I would just look at them, not respond, confused as to what was going on and why I felt so weak.

On the second day I felt so awful that I told my mom that I wasn't feeling good.

She rushed away and I don't know how long it was before Dr. Crossett woke me up (I took a nap or passed out, I don't remember) when he hurriedly lifted my arm, and looked at my underarm.

He rushed away and within 10-15 seconds I was being rushed by nurses pulling my bed towards the exit to an ambulance.

When they turned on the sirens and drove off I knew something was wrong.

I was taken to Providence Memorial, about 7-8 miles.

From the point I got to the emergency room to the point they put me to sleep was a nightmare.

I woke up numb on a freezing plastic mattress full of crutched ice.

There was something magical about that band-aid, it took care of me for a couple of days.

Good night & God Bless

 

[Nancy]

"There was something magical about that band-aid, it took care of me for a couple of days."

Cruiser- I think there has been something magical taking care of you for your whole life.

You have mentioned the "bullet" several times. Can you tell us what happened to you to have a bullet wound at such a young age?

And by the way---Are you planning to call the doctor tomorrow???

 

[LA_Cruiser]

Nancy

Nancy

...a zip gun (home-made apparatus). A group of four or five with one 'paying around' pointing it and tapping the bullet at the rest of us.

I was at point blank when ?the thing? went off. The bullet entered my right arm, exiting on my underarm and re-entering my chest. Thomason personnel thought that I only had an arm wound. They didn?t check to see where the bullet had exited.

The Austin doctors gave me some numbers from the tests performed..

He gave me the normal blood-flow rate (I think he said '65-75'), the one they got (34-45 I think) and the one from UCLA of six months earlier (that one I don't remember) indication that the one they got is as low as it should get without putting an individual at high risk.

I used my calculator (I carry one most of the time) and calculated 54% blood flow at that point and 70% at UCLA , I didn't ask for an El Paso figure as I was at that point trying to mentally compare his test against UCLA's.

He said that I had 'slid' too far from the UCLA figure and that I should immediately submit to surgery.

I told him I needed 3 months to which he responded that I wouldn't last that long. I asked him for two weeks to which he responded that I was pushing it but that they would 'set me up' for two weeks.

It was a Friday when I was discharged. He told me to 'come back' through emergency if I felt I wouldn't make it through the weekend but to report back on Monday noon for a check-up.

For whatever reason I didn't make the appointment and decided to head back to beautiful LA (it was too humid out there, beautiful town though).

Are you familiar with such blood-flow tests and their corresponding numbers?

I'll probably 'turn myself in' sometime soon (though not this Monday).

(THX srwieland)

God Bless all

 

[Don]

GET YOURSELF TO ER

GET YOURSELF TO ER

Hi LA Cruiser,
Just finished reading some of your post for the first time a few minutes ago. I'm not even a "lay expert" although I've been through my own AVR. From what I've read: GET YOURSELF TO A CARDIOLOGIST, AN MD, OR ER MONDAY, if not tonight!
Based on what you've said, the time for research and obtaining records is way past. (Or, are you putting us on?)
By the way, I do know where Thomasen(sp?)Hospital (El Paso) and Anthony, TX are.
Best wishes, do not delay.
Sincerely,
Don
AVR; 4/02; CCF; Cosgrove; bovine tissue valve