49 with BAV replacement happening in 4 days (Mar 9 2022)

[djman]

49 year old Canadian fortunate to live in Ottawa and to be able to have my surgery at the Ottawa Heart Institute.

Bicuspid valve.
Ascending aortic aneurysm. Aortic root aneurysm. (5cm).
Aortic stenosis, calcification, regurgitation. (moderate to severe).

Going for a mechanical valve.

Been reading some posts. Looks like a good community on here.

 

[Superman]

Welcome aboard. Any questions or concerns, fire away! Are they repairing that aneurysm while they’re digging around?

49 as well. Ticking away since I was 17. Aneurysm repair at 36.

 

[djman]

They are doing a Bentall procedure to take care of everything. New valve + aneurysms cover by a synthetic graft.

 

[pellicle]

Hi and welcome aboard

New valve + aneurysms cover by a synthetic graft.

that's great, an all in one. I guess you've seen that BAV is strongly associated with aneurysm, so the thing which may be likely to drive another surgery is also being fixed.

Fingers crossed for one and done.

Just to get in early, make sure you are conscientious with your INR management when you get out and get better. I recommend self testing (nobody wants blood draws all the time, it scars the veins for a starter) and reach out here if you want advice on self management (with a GP watching from the sidelines).

my long and detailed "all you need to know" reference post on INR management
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html
and something you should know (just in case)
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2021/05/grapefruit-and-warfarin.html
best wishes for an uneventful recovery

 

[Luckyguy17]

49 year old Canadian fortunate to live in Ottawa and to be able to have my surgery at the Ottawa Heart Institute.

Bicuspid valve.
Ascending aortic aneurysm. Aortic root aneurysm. (5cm).
Aortic stenosis, calcification, regurgitation. (moderate to severe).

Going for a mechanical valve.

Been reading some posts. Looks like a good community on here.

Welcome Djman and fellow Canuck. Yes, you are fortunate and I have heard great things about the Ottawa Heart Institute. There are VR members having been to OHI that should pipe up shortly in a welcome.

Wishing you the best in a smooth recovery. I feel as you do so fortunate to be living in Canada and close to a major city, where our medical care is really top notch.

You should be in great shape to welcome summer in June, all the best

Gil

 

[Chuck C]

Welcome! This board was incredibly helpful to me in the lead up to my surgery and I hope that it is for you too.
11 months ago I had the same procedure that you are facing- Bentall with a mechanical valve. As Pellicle mentioned, it is probably a good thing that you are getting a Bentall, as aortic aneurysm is the biggest driver for reoperation for those with mechanical valves.

The long term outlook for the Bentall is very good. You may want to give a read to the study linked below:

" Discharged patients enjoyed survival equivalent to a normal age- and sex-matched population and superior to survival reported for a series of patients with aortic valve replacement alone. "

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17888968/
Please feel free to reach out with any questions that you may have.

 

[Lynn]

Welcome to a fellow Canadian, and good luck! Let us know how you are on the other sid.

 

[pellicle]

The long term outlook for the Bentall is very good. You may want to give a read to the study linked below:

" Discharged patients enjoyed survival equivalent to a normal age- and sex-matched population and superior to survival reported for a series of patients with aortic valve replacement alone. "

something wrong with my speed reading as I had to give that a second glance when I did a "what did that say"

 

[djman]

Hi and welcome aboard

. I recommend self testing (nobody wants blood draws all the time, it scars the veins for a starter) and reach out here if you want advice on self management (with a GP watching from the sidelines).

my long and detailed "all you need to know" reference post on INR management
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html
and something you should know (just in case)
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2021/05/grapefruit-and-warfarin.html
best wishes for an uneventful recovery

Thanks very much. I bought myself a brand spanking new, as of yet unused, Coaguchek Inrange plus 12 strips. I also read the "all you need to know" post.

 

[djman]

" Discharged patients enjoyed survival equivalent to a normal age- and sex-matched population and superior to survival reported for a series of patients with aortic valve replacement alone. "

That is encouraging. Thanks

 

[djman]

Welcome to a fellow Canadian, and good luck! Let us know how you are on the other sid.

Thank you.

 

[djman]

You should be in great shape to welcome summer in June, all the best

Thank you. Looking forward to a good summer.

 

[ValveAdmin]

Welcome to VR. Thanks for joining, and best of luck.

 

[d333gs]

Hi and welcome aboard



that's great, an all in one. I guess you've seen that BAV is strongly associated with aneurysm, so the thing which may be likely to drive another surgery is also being fixed.

Fingers crossed for one and done.

Just to get in early, make sure you are conscientious with your INR management when you get out and get better. I recommend self testing (nobody wants blood draws all the time, it scars the veins for a starter) and reach out here if you want advice on self management (with a GP watching from the sidelines).

my long and detailed "all you need to know" reference post on INR management
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2014/09/managing-my-inr.html
and something you should know (just in case)
http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2021/05/grapefruit-and-warfarin.html
best wishes for an uneventful recovery

“BAV is strongly associated with aneurysm, ….. maybe likely to drive another surgery “ sob, even after a new AV! ? What would cause that to develop?

 

[Rich1975]

Hi, I’m a 46yrs old male and just received news today following most recent scan that valve now moderate/severe so surgery to be planned next 3mnts for mechanical valve and aortic aneurysm repair (5cms). Knew the day was coming but really scared. Live in UK and this forum has been brilliant to learn from - especially how brave many of you are that have found yourself in this position.

 

[Superman]

“BAV is strongly associated with aneurysm, ….. maybe likely to drive another surgery “ sob, even after a new AV! ? What would cause that to develop?

It’s just a characteristic of the congenital heart defect that causes BAV. A connective tissue disorder that can result in an aneurysm. Replacing a valve doesn’t change the connective tissue that makes the aorta, so it can happen years after valve replacement. Mine was 19 years later. Wasn’t really known until we started being able to replace valves. Patients that would have died from valve failure started to live long enough to learn about other problems. Yay!

 

[djman]

BAV is strongly associated with aneurysm, ….. maybe likely to drive another surgery “ sob, even after a new AV! ? What would cause that to develop?

There are NIH and other studies on this. I do not think the science is totally settled. The correlation is undeniable. But the exact nature of this relationship including causality is still somewhat unclear.

 

[Dano64]

All the best to you djman! I am 4 weeks out from ascending aneurysm repair and valve replacement. Modern medicine is amazing. Things have gone pretty well so far. You should do great!

 

[pellicle]

What would cause that to develop?

The other two answers were as much as I could have added, so I'll leave it there.

 

[djman]

Update: My surgery has been postponed to Friday Mar 11th.