20 months out and might have developed a problem......

[canon4me]

I am now 20 months out from my aortic valve replacement surgery at Cleveland. My routine appointment revealed I have a "minor" leak on my bovine replacement valve. Should I panic now or later? He scheduled another echo in six months and suggests I send a CD of my echo to Dr. gillinov who performed my surgery and see what he thought. This felt like a gut punch. Maybe minor leak isn't the end of the world (or my world), but I thought this would at least go close to ten years without issues. The local cardio.ogist wasn't screaming surgery, but wanted to bring it to my attention. Has this ever happend to anybody on this forum? Just curious.

 

[gregjohnsondsm]

I am just getting ready for surgery and have not yet selected the valve. I am scheduled to see Dr. Gillinov in two weeks. How did you like him and the team at Cleveland? Sorry I cannot answer any of your questions. The only thing I can say is that I had a minor leak in my original BAV for 40 years before it got to the point that it affected my lifestyle.

 

[canon4me]

Dr. Gillinov is a very gifted surgeon and in retrospect I am very glad I chose Cleveland. I would guess Dr. Gillinov is in the top ten best valve replacement surgeons in the US.

 

[pellicle]

Hey there.

Sometimes these leaks happen. A small amount has been detected in mine and everyone in the professional arena seemed to be OK with it. Not ideal but not worst case either.

Get more data on if before panicking. Truth be told you may just hurt yourself more with worry about what may turn into "wait and watch" anyway

Best Wishes

 

[neil]

Yep agree with all above. Mines got a trivial leak.

 

[Agian]

I am now 20 months out from my aortic valve replacement surgery at Cleveland. My routine appointment revealed I have a "minor" leak on my bovine replacement valve. Should I panic now or later? He scheduled another echo in six months and suggests I send a CD of my echo to Dr. gillinov who performed my surgery and see what he thought. This felt like a gut punch. Maybe minor leak isn't the end of the world (or my world), but I thought this would at least go close to ten years without issues. The local cardio.ogist wasn't screaming surgery, but wanted to bring it to my attention. Has this ever happend to anybody on this forum? Just curious.

Hey buddy, welcome back. It's been a while.

 

[canon4me]

Crazy thing is...I just started running and doing airdyne for 60 minutes every morning before work and I haven't felt this good for over 10 years only to find out the valve is leaking. Had my carotid artery operating on last Aug. Ive had 5 surgeries in three years. I'm getting to look like I have my own zippers all over my body. You would think that sooner or later even the wifey has got to think this body looks weird

 

[pellicle]

My Pajero (4WD) is 26 years old. It goes places folk won't take their Land Rovers ... only because its got enough age and marks on it that I take it there while they worry about their body work...

Your wife loves you because of who you are, not your hot bod .... ( well not "just" because of your hot bod)

 

[cldlhd]

It is liberating when they get to that point where you're not worried about every little ding (talking about cars ) ,doesn't mean you don't care about it just in a different way.

 

[Lisa2]

me too re: trivial leak..I've had a leak since day one after the surgery...docs weren't concerned

 

[river-wear]

I'd definitely put that panic on hold. As others have said, it may not develop into anything more - and worrying won't help anyway. As for the zippers, well, they aren't weird. They add character. ;-)

Plus sometimes they aren't a bad reminder to cherish what you have.

 

[epstns]

The only time I worry about zippers is when they get stuck. . .

And, like many others, my "new" valve isn't perfect. It has always had a residual murmur, which my surgeon and cardio agree is just an artifact. I also have a very minor VSD, which went undetected until after my valve replacement. This doesn't cause any of the docs any worry, either.

I guess the moral of the story is that our hearts and bodies were able to compensate for the shortcomings of our diseased hearts prior to valve surgery, so we should expect that they can also compensate for shortcomings after. As long as these defects are relatively minor and are stable, we will probably be advised to watch and wait, to see if they ever become significant enough to need attention. Until then, we just live life for what it is. Life is good.

 

[T in YVR]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry just yet if it is just trivial regurg...heck, my cardiologist told me many people with a normal valve can have some level of minor regurg over their lifetime with no problem at all. Obviously with a bovine valve its not quite the same thing. But I'd just keep to my annual check ups and I'm sure they will keep an eye on things...maybe it'll stay like that for another 8 yrs or so....

 

[extraordinary]

I had a very little leak as well since day 1 after surgery and they told me that it's normal and made on purpose to wash off the whole things i just don't know but both of the dr. in cleveland and in my home told me the exact thing ... but they said they would keep an eye on it to make sure it's not growing any bigger

 

[cldlhd]

When I had my aortic valve repaired afterwards they gave me a TEE and the report said trivial leakage in mitral and pulmonary valves-normal

 

[canon4me]

Dr. Gillinov is going to talk to his nurse and his nurse will call me and explain what Gillinov said. Hoping it will be in the next week because like most people, I hate the wait.