Whats the point.....................

DaveLee said:

I feel for you because I know what your going through, I have been there.

I had my valve replaced in 2008, not a long time ago but its still upsetting just thinking about it.

I will have to have my aortic aneurysm fixed soon and have great deal of fear of reliving it all over again.

If nothing else do it for your family, DONT give up.

I was an EE for most of my life and have my name on 10 or11 patents forget which * I did some of my best work after the operation. Now at 70 my short store is not so hot, ask my wife

There was NO change in life after the operation except the green stuff, which I never liked much anyway. My wife and I do a 1 - 1.5 mile walk every day. I did have to have a pace-maker installed 6 years ago from damage to my heart. My case was not found soon enough and I was told NOW or never **.

I wish for you only the BEST
Dave

* I did must of the ground work for a machine that cuts the defects out of french fries for McDonalds
** what they meant was now or DIE

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Can you explain why you needed a pacemaker? Do you have insurance? So you didn't find out you had a valve problem until it was severe severe critical or critical? How are you adapting with a pacemaker? How would you have gone through post off without any family or friends? Is that even possible or do you need to go into a Skilled Nursing Facility

Art O Ceitinn said:

Hi jannerjohn yes my sisters husband died while having his aorta valve replaced to be blunt he bled to death. He was 72 years old and part of the 2%.
But you are missing the point. I was 15 year young when my heart problems was confirmed by a young cardiologist Dr.Risteárd Mulcahy. During my 10 day in the hospital i had 2 angiograms while under general anesthetic and then returned to the hospital 3 weeks later (they let me out for Christmas) and had my first OHS. I survived and the odds were not 2% more like 50/50. November 2007 I had my second OHS in Paris and again I survived. 2 days after the op i had a shower and walked slowly, after 6 days I left the hospital. The difference between the two OHS was like chalk and cheese. First op I lost a lot of weight, about 30 pounds and the pain was not controlled. Second op the pain was controlled and I lost no weight. First op i saw at least 10 patients die, second op no deaths. I know that facing OHS is a bit scary but after your op you are cured not like my brother who was super fit and there was no cure for his cancer.
I am living a normal life lots of up and some downs. But my heart problems did not stop my life, I have climbed and skied mountains got drunk. cycled across Europe and I still like the S** . So jannerjohn your life is not over, it will get an extension if you can sort out your head. Your heart has a cure GO FOR IT

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Thank you for the courageous and well-thought-out explanation of your experiences. Greatly appreciated. I'm assuming you don't have any non cardiac health issues?

newarrior said:

Can you explain why you needed a pacemaker? Do you have insurance? So you didn't find out you had a valve problem until it was severe severe critical or critical? How are you adapting with a pacemaker? How would you have gone through post off without any family or friends? Is that even possible or do you need to go into a Skilled Nursing Facility

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I had NO symptoms NO pain, from my view every thing was great and the problem was not found till I went in for a physical. So yes I would think that was critical. I had my valve replaced 6 days later and was more or less told do it now. It was about 7 years later I came down with stage 3 heart block (not fun). The fix for that was the Pacemaker. The heart block was caused by damage to my heart from the bad valve. I have an awesome wife and two wonderful daughters, so I had lots of support

Heart Block is when the signal to the lower chamber does not work for short periods of time and you get very dizzy when this happens and I would get a very bad head headache for about an hour. Stage 3 is the worst.

The only time I have ever felt pain IN my chest was from the cracked ribs from the operation.

Yes I have VERY good insurance

JannerJohn said:

I'm asymptomatic with severe aortic stenosis (Bicuspid valve) and ascending aneurysm that needs replacing. Surgeon says 98% success (really????) and recommends a mechanical valve with dacron replacement of ascending aorta. I really struggle with the concept of walking into a hospital as I feel now and coming out even if I do survive the surgery with all the life limitations this will bring or worse severely disabled due to a stroke, afib, infection etc. Quite frankly I'd sooner sit it out. Weighing up the fact that you cant just go to the pub, can't really do big weights in the gym, you cant just make a bowl of watercress soup (and all the other foods you cant just eat), you cant always sleep on your front / side, you might only live a few years before all the repair fails or becomes infected, you cant play any contact sports, you live in perpetual fear of a stroke, you might be cognitively impaired (I'm an engineer and need to be on it), your libido falls off a cliff if you can even manage it at all...................... the list of woe just goes on and on and I genuinely feel has bought my life to an end. I know some people may say well your alive to see you children grow up but can I really still be an active father and engaged, is this really living I'm 50y old and fair say quite frustrated and pi##ed off.

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I didn't read all the posts on this but I can sympathize with some of your thoughts but let me just give you my perspective. Every case is different but I went in for my surgery at the age of 45, now 52, I have a BAV (still have it) which is in pretty good shape very very little leakage and the cause for my surgery was an aortic root that was dilated and an ascending aneurysm. I had the root, ascending and hemiarch replaced. Now I'm not on warfarin so I can't go into details about that and what it's like but others out here can. I have a wife and at the time of the surgery our son was 8 years old and I spent many days wondering if I would get to watch him grow up. Well right now I'm watching him at his flag football practice running around at the age of 14 and I can't believe how big he is. I have zero restrictions post surgery and haven't had any since the 3-month point post surgery. I do whatever I want and honestly most days I don't even think about it. I'm fortunate that I had a great surgeon and team and my surgery went very well. However I don't kid myself I'm sure there's scar tissue and stuff in there and you never know I might need another surgery one day.
A lot of the thoughts you have are normal but that doesn't mean they're helpful. When I found out about my situation I was a healthy 44-year-old who thought I would breeze through the scan and head back out on my day and when I got the news from the cardiologist, without the best bedside manner, I literally thought my life was over and was wondering how much time I would have and what I would be like post surgery. I can't and nobody can guarantee for you what it will be like and what you will be like after but there's a very good chance you'll look back at how you feel right now after your surgery and your recovery and wonder why you were so pessimistic about it.
FWIW I just got done work , spent a couple of hours doing some yard work (cutting out old sof and replacing it) while having a beer and looking forward to a hot shower and a second with dinner, taking the bike out tomorrow.

hevishot said:

I had AVR and Open rotator cuff surgery and I can tell you that the rotator cuff surgery was far worse in terms of pain and recovery. As far as lifting weights go I am currently the Pa. State record holder in the bench press for my age and weight class.

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Just wondering what area of PA, I'm in the suburbs of Philadelphia

Chuck C said:

that probably carries a higher risk of mortality than the surgery

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I'm not sure that's a maybe

cldlhd said:

Just wondering what area of PA, I'm in the suburbs of Philadelphia

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I live in Orangeville. about 2hr. north of you

hevishot said:

I live in Orangeville. about 2hr. north of you

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Okay I know where you're talking about kind of near Bloomsburg college? Yeah I don't know if you've ever been there but I'm basically 5 minutes from sesame place in langhorne.

I'm about 2 minutes from BU. Do you compete in powerlifting? I belong to the USAPL.

JannerJohn said:

I'm asymptomatic with severe aortic stenosis (Bicuspid valve) and ascending aneurysm that needs replacing. Surgeon says 98% success (really????) and recommends a mechanical valve with dacron replacement of ascending aorta. I really struggle with the concept of walking into a hospital as I feel now and coming out even if I do survive the surgery with all the life limitations this will bring or worse severely disabled due to a stroke, afib, infection etc. Quite frankly I'd sooner sit it out. Weighing up the fact that you cant just go to the pub, can't really do big weights in the gym, you cant just make a bowl of watercress soup (and all the other foods you cant just eat), you cant always sleep on your front / side, you might only live a few years before all the repair fails or becomes infected, you cant play any contact sports, you live in perpetual fear of a stroke, you might be cognitively impaired (I'm an engineer and need to be on it), your libido falls off a cliff if you can even manage it at all...................... the list of woe just goes on and on and I genuinely feel has bought my life to an end. I know some people may say well your alive to see you children grow up but can I really still be an active father and engaged, is this really living I'm 50y old and fair say quite frustrated and pi##ed off.

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These are all possibilities or this happened to you ?

pellicle said:

I have a good friend who was riding his bicycle home from work in the bicycle lane. He was hit from behind by a car (driver was fiddling with their phone and crossed the lane).

He woke up in hospital with the news he was quadriplegic and would never walk again, perhaps never use his arms.

He was a programmer, so typing was what he did.

Many would (and do) give up, but as he had 2 lovely young daughters and a wife who loved him he stuck with it.

That sheet takes bravery because you know its the rest of your life like that.

I take my hat off to him

So what is the point?

I think monty python clarifies this well



ecce homo, ergo elk

my point is clarified here:

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My son, at 11, very nearly died from riding a bicycle. He stopped with his front brake only because he had a slurpee in his other hand. When he fell over the handle bar slipped under his rib cage and lacerated his liver. He had 3 emergency surgeries, and a few non emergency. We got lucky as the doctors thought he would die. Death can come at an instant, riding down the road on your bicycle, looking forward to drinking your slurpee, happy as a clam....

These types of surgeries are done everyday. They mitigate every contingency that they possibly can for the unexpected that may pop up.

There is a chance of death in everything that you do on a daily basis, at least with this surgery you get a chance at LIFE.