G
Guest
Thanks to all of you who are on this site. It has really been a gift for me. I have known about my heart murmur since childhood, born with a hole in my heart that closed on it's own, but was never told that my problem was my aortic valve until Sept. 1999. In 1986, I had my first echo and was told 'mitral valve prolapse' 'nothing to worry about'. Years go by (ignorance is really bliss) doc listens to the murmur, 'your ok'. I started having chest pains in '99, a new cardiologist repeated the echo and said 'you don't have mitral valve prolapse, who told you that?' 'you have a bicuspid aortic valve' and he showed me the echo, clear as day 'fish mouth'. I had a stress echo and PVCs showed up there but not on my EKGs, I also had palpitations but nothing excessive. My regurgitation in '99 was mild and I was told to have my PCP monitor, come back in a year for repeat echo. Well, I never went back as I figured the PCP could monitor just as well, anything shows up, I'll be sent to the cardio, go from there.
I used to run a lot, 4 marathons and lots of 5Ks, never really liked the 10Ks. My times started to slow, just thought I was getting older. Well you know how overlapping issues can cause you problems and frustrate you and your doctor? I had a pinched nerve in my neck and was advised by the neuro to not run with it so I quit, 2 years ago. Last year, due to severe symptoms from my neck, I had a dble cervical fusion, titanium plate, donor bone. One year post-op this year, I finally felt good enough to start running again.
I'm trying not to make this too long....I noticed this year that when I did any kind of yard work, pushing a lawn mower, carrying 40 lb bags of garden soil, mulch, etc. it was kicking my butt. I'm not a weakling and don't consider myself out of shape....I was getting older. Another time when walking to my car at work and talking on my cell, I had to apologize to the gal as I was getting short of breath. Blew this off too.....Started taking the stairs at work to strengthen my legs to finally get back into running, 1 year post op neck surgery, feeling good enough to try. I noticed by the time I got to the 3rd floor, I was breathing heavy, by 6 I was out of breath and it seemed to take a while to recover. Thought OK, you really are getting older and you are out of shape.....After 3 months, I should have noticed the training effect, still nada.
I went for my yearly physical in August, EKG was abnormal and my BRAND NEW PCP referred me to a cardio and said get in the next two weeks and if not here, call me and I'll get you in. What's wrong? 'You have a blood flow problem or a blockage'....After many tests, echos, TEE, Cardiac Cath, my valve is leaking severely, my ejection fraction is 55%, and the cardio thinks it's best to preserve my heart health by having surgery now.
Met with the surgeon, discussed options, told him about VR.com, and he explained my options, mechanical, tissue, Ross. Then I threw him for a loop, "I have ITP". Coumadin will increase bruising, won't effect my platelets, but effects other mechanisms of clotting. I think he is leaning towards tissue, but I want an OnX. He has experience with OnX, I followed up with a hematologist, my platelet counts never dropped below 115K. Hematologist assures me that if my platelets drop to 70K for any reason, they would have to intervene.
My surgery is scheduled for Nov 14th. So my dilemma, I have ITP, I want mechanical so I don't ever have to do OHS again, I know I'll have to have coumadin, I don't want the Ross, and I'm afraid of the tissue valve wearing out quickly and having to have OHS again.
Are there any members that have ITP? If so, do you have a tissue or mechanical? How are you managing on coumadin? Does a mechanical valve work better for athletic ppl? I'm not elite by any means, just want to run for 6 miles and feel good! My new cross-trainers are waiting for me post op.
I used to run a lot, 4 marathons and lots of 5Ks, never really liked the 10Ks. My times started to slow, just thought I was getting older. Well you know how overlapping issues can cause you problems and frustrate you and your doctor? I had a pinched nerve in my neck and was advised by the neuro to not run with it so I quit, 2 years ago. Last year, due to severe symptoms from my neck, I had a dble cervical fusion, titanium plate, donor bone. One year post-op this year, I finally felt good enough to start running again.
I'm trying not to make this too long....I noticed this year that when I did any kind of yard work, pushing a lawn mower, carrying 40 lb bags of garden soil, mulch, etc. it was kicking my butt. I'm not a weakling and don't consider myself out of shape....I was getting older. Another time when walking to my car at work and talking on my cell, I had to apologize to the gal as I was getting short of breath. Blew this off too.....Started taking the stairs at work to strengthen my legs to finally get back into running, 1 year post op neck surgery, feeling good enough to try. I noticed by the time I got to the 3rd floor, I was breathing heavy, by 6 I was out of breath and it seemed to take a while to recover. Thought OK, you really are getting older and you are out of shape.....After 3 months, I should have noticed the training effect, still nada.
I went for my yearly physical in August, EKG was abnormal and my BRAND NEW PCP referred me to a cardio and said get in the next two weeks and if not here, call me and I'll get you in. What's wrong? 'You have a blood flow problem or a blockage'....After many tests, echos, TEE, Cardiac Cath, my valve is leaking severely, my ejection fraction is 55%, and the cardio thinks it's best to preserve my heart health by having surgery now.
Met with the surgeon, discussed options, told him about VR.com, and he explained my options, mechanical, tissue, Ross. Then I threw him for a loop, "I have ITP". Coumadin will increase bruising, won't effect my platelets, but effects other mechanisms of clotting. I think he is leaning towards tissue, but I want an OnX. He has experience with OnX, I followed up with a hematologist, my platelet counts never dropped below 115K. Hematologist assures me that if my platelets drop to 70K for any reason, they would have to intervene.
My surgery is scheduled for Nov 14th. So my dilemma, I have ITP, I want mechanical so I don't ever have to do OHS again, I know I'll have to have coumadin, I don't want the Ross, and I'm afraid of the tissue valve wearing out quickly and having to have OHS again.
Are there any members that have ITP? If so, do you have a tissue or mechanical? How are you managing on coumadin? Does a mechanical valve work better for athletic ppl? I'm not elite by any means, just want to run for 6 miles and feel good! My new cross-trainers are waiting for me post op.
