Advice on aortic stenosis

[wmgodwin]

I am a 63 yr old male. For years and years I was told casually that I had a heart murmur. In early 2000 I went to Ochsner's Hospital in New Orleans for cancer surgery. During the workup they did an echogram and diagnosed me with severe aortc stenosis. When you are facing cancer surgery and (hopefully) recovery you don't worry about a little thing like a heart valve disease that isn't causing any problems. I am currently NED (No Evidence of Disease) cancer wise. About a year ago I began experiencing a generalized ache in my chest upon extended exertion. I have lately been experiencing shortness of breath also. I have never been to a cardiologist. I work out regularly. Lifting weights causes no problem. The difficulty arises wth prolonged aerobic exertion. I suppose it is decision time. I would be appreciative of anything anybody has to say.

Walter Godwin in Central Louisiana

 

[hensylee]

Methinks you need to go see a cardiologist now. It is time to GMI. (get more information) I think you're going to find a whole bunch of others who are going to tell you the exact same thing, Walter.

Welcome to VR. There's plenty of information for you here. You will know more about what other questions to ask after you have been examined by your doctor. Please stick around and visit with us. We have many members and swap all kinds of good stuff between us.

 

[wmgodwin]

advice on aortic stenosis

advice on aortic stenosis

Thank you so much for the welcome and the God bless. When I was first diagnosed with cancer in early 1997 I didn't even have a computer. Until I joined a couple of online cancer support groups I didn't know how little I really knew. While I was finding out how little I knew I (scarily) found out how little some docs know. With this heart valve situation I hope to find out something ahead of time from those who've been there, done that and got the T-shirt.

Walter

 

[Ross]

you don't worry about a little thing like a heart valve disease that isn't causing any problems.

Right there is a big mistake. You should worry. Usually by the time symptoms develop, the damage is done and sometimes heart function will not return to normal. I agree with Hensylee, see a Cardiologist asap.

 

[wmgodwin]

Ross,
Does that mean that once symptoms develope the damage is totally irreversable? If so, does valve replacement merely slow down the deterioration?

Walter

 

[Ross]

It doesn't necessarily mean that it's irreversible, but the longer it goes untreated, the greater that chance becomes. Having the valve replaced will stop any further damage. What you really need to do before I scare you into something that may not be, is to have a complete check up with whatever diagnostics they want to run. Echo, Stress test, Gamma Imaging, Heart Catheterization, Trans Esophageal Echo, etc,. Those will tell the story of how much, if any, lasting damage has been done and the condition your in now.

 

[Nancy]

Hi Walter-

Welcome to this terrific site.

I'm sorry you are finding yourself in this condition. But this site is full of folks who have valve problems and who are either waiting for surgery or have already had it done, plus of course, their family members, like me.

My husband has had 3 valve surgeries.

You are starting to show some of the classic symptoms of the disease. As many can attest, you can go for quite a while without symptoms, and then your heart can no longer compensate for the dimished pumping ability.

The most important thing you could do right now is to call a good cardiologist and have a workup to see just where you are going health-wise. It would probaby be a good thing to discontinue any weight-lifting endeavors until you have a diagnosis for your symptoms. It can out enormous pressure on a compromised heart. Also if anything you are doing starts to give you symptoms, stop it until you have an OK from the cardiologist.

And, of course, if you don't feel well at any time, please get yourself to the ER.

Please let us know how you do with your appointment.

We're glad to have you as a new member.

 

[FredH]

Do somethin now

Do somethin now

Hi Walter,
I don't want to scare you but sudden death is not uncommon from your condition. It is imperative that you STOP exercising. Lifting weights could be very dangerous. You need to see a cardiologist ASAP. All of what I just told you was told to me by two different cardiologists I had. I will be looking forward to hearing what the cardiologist tells you. Welcome to the site and good luck.


Fred

 

[wmgodwin]

advice on aortic stenosis

advice on aortic stenosis

On average, how long does it take to recover from aortic valve replacement surgery? Are there any permanent side effects? I fear being debilitated more than I do death. In fact I thought that probably one day I'd just drop dead from the heart. It seems that might not be the case. The idea of sudden death is not all that frightening once you've been threatened by cancer. But from the info I'm gleaning it seems as if aortic stenosis left untreated might be debilitating indeed.

Walter

 

[Nancy]

Now looky here Walter--

You're not to go on and not treat your valve problem, are you? What we're all involved with here is living and life.

A solution exists for taking care of pesky valves, and the surgery is highly perfected, highly successful and has given millions of people back their life and their quality of life. The mortality rate for this surgery is very low and the surgeons who do this do it all the time and know everything about the inside of your heart and how to fix it.

Once you have your surgery, you will be up and walking around the hospital in about 2 days, you'll be discharged in about 5-7 days. Once home, you will slowly recover and at about 6-8 weeks, you'll be feeling pretty well. The pain is there, but not nearly as bad as your imagination can dream up. It will be very well managed, and you will be taken care of very well in the hospital.

Please ask as many questions as you can think of here. Knowing about your condition and this surgery will help to make you stronger as you head towards surgery. Also read as many posts here as you can. The more you know, the less fear you will have. It's scary at first, but reading posts will get easier and easier.

 

[Ross]

Walter the heart surgery itself isn't all that bad. You probably experienced much more pain and mental anguish with the cancer treatments.

5 to 7 day stay and about 6 to 8 weeks to return to feeling fairly normal and a full year to really recover. Your results may vary of course, but this is the average. Most everyone has complete and full recovery with many feeling better then they have in years. That's the weird thing with this, the symptoms may be advancing so slowly that you don't notice it, but once corrected, you notice a huge improvement.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hello Walter,

I second everything everyone has said to you.
Get yourself to a Cardiologist ASAP and STOP exercising until you are fully evaluated.

Once a valve reaches the severe stage, the SOONER it is replaced, the BETTER. Surgery will fix the valve problem, but when the valve is near closing off, the heart compensates by pumping harder which *may* result in PERMANENT Heart MUSCLE Damage. That is why SOONER is BETTER.

Read through the Post Surgery forum and you will find more information than you care to read on recovery. Basically, there are several steps along the way, the first two weeks you need someone to help care for you, at 6 weeks, your sternum is solid enough for limited physical activity (no more than 5 lbs lifting) and you can begin to drive again, at 3 months the sternum 'should' be fully healed. At 6 months, baring other complications, you are 'most of the way' to full recovery. MANY patients continue to improve up to a year or even more.

Yes, it is a long recovery, but well worth doing. Success rates for first time heart valve surgery are extremely good, over 97% when performed by a surgeon and support staff who do them by the hundreds per year. Hospital ratings by procedure can be found at www.HealthGrades.com

SO, what are you waiting for? Call a cardiologist and get checked out!

'AL'

 

[wmgodwin]

advice on aortic stenosis

advice on aortic stenosis

I thank all of y'all (I'm a Southerner, You all will have to get used to me saying y'all). The concensus here seems to be that I might oughta get to a cardiologist post haste, toute suite and without further delay. Actually I don't do really severe weightlifting. I only bench press 110 lbs, curl 60 - 80 lbs, do about 20 pushups. That sort of thing. I am retired and work part time as a guard in a bank. I try to climb 1000 stairs a shift but I take my time; just enough to keep my heart rate up. None of that hurts as long as I don't over do the step climbing. Do you all think this moderate level of activity is harmful? You know what is irritating? Doctors let me go on for years thinking there was nothing serious wrong. I had to be certified for my first cancer sugery in 1997. I went to a different hospital for the second surgery, where I was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis. Now y'all know I didn't deteriorate from a totally innocuous condition to severe in three years. And other docs were listening to my heart every couple of months between the two surgeries. Grrr. Thanks for letting me vent.

Walter

 

[Ross]

Totally lay off with the weight lifting until your seen by a Cardiologist. The stairs are giving you a good workout as it stands.

You know Walter, I'm thinking the Doctors probably felt you had enough to deal with during the cancer treatment and at that particular time, the heart wasn't going to take your life so they sort of kicked it to the side. Certainly this now needs addressing. Let us know how this works out.

 

[hensylee]

Walter, bein southern ain't no sin in this site. Why, you're just over yonder from me. Bonnie's southern, too - way more than me and you should hear her lovely southernspeak. Everybody is used to the 'y'all' that we use.

As to recovery, please check in on the post of "where's John" and read what John has to say about 'after surgery' - his condition. Then you won't be scared all that much.

I, too, out of concern for health issues learned to use the computer and surf for heart issues, found this site, and have been computing ever since. What we didn't know about medicine BC (before computers). Been more than three yrs now and I think the computer may be the best invention ever known to man/woman.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hello again Walter,

Don't be too hard on your Doc's. Murmurs can go on for years with no serious affects. BUT, when symptoms begin to appear, it is time to address the problem as real damage can begin to happen and it CAN come on fairly rapidly. Don't hesitate to get diagnosed and treated. This is your warning bell to take the appropriate steps to extend your life. FEAR NOT, we've all been 'over the mountain' and life does get better!

Best wishes,

'AL'

 

[bvdr]

Hi Walter and welcome to this site. We actually have quite a few other members who have dealt with cancer and heart valve disease.

I just want to echo everyone else regarding it being time to really investigate the situation. I hear so often that there are regrets that surgery wasn't done earlier before permament damage and hardly ever does someone regret having it done while the heart is still in real good shape.

 

[Heather Fisher]

Hi Walter,

I agree with the others, get to a cardiologist. Things can progress rapidly. My valve was "watched" my entire life. I was told it might need to be replaced someday or may never need to be replaced. When it goes, it goes. On the positive side you will probably find the operation and recovery are far easier than cancer treatments. I don't know what kind of cancer you had. My husband had rectal cancer in 1991 and was given a 25% chance to live 5 years. His surgery and radiation/chemo were far worse than anything I endured with my surgery. Thank God he is still here today. I assume you have passed your 5 year mark also. Congratulations!

Heather

 

[JimL]

Hi Walter. The point about weightlifting is not how much you lift, but the holding of breath that goes along with the lift. As you hold your breath to lift, the pressure builds up to much higher levels than normal, and that is what can cause the problem.

The damage done to my heart by a late diagnosis was somewhat severe, but it returned to normal within time. But then I'm a few years younger than you, so it might take longer. Do find a cardiologist you can talk to ASAP.

 

[epstns]

Hi Walter,

I'm still waiting for my aortic stenosis to become bad enough to be "ripe" for surgery, so I cannot address the issues first handed.

What I can do, though, is suggest that you look at the links (from the home page) to the pictures from the reunion we just had here in Chicago. Look at all the happy folks, then be aware that I'm the only VR.com member there who HAS NOT had valve surgery. These folks are all bright, happy, living proof that proper case management and timely intervention DO lead to the continuation of the lives we all value so highly.

Believe them, as they've all been there. Do choose a cardiologist and listen to what they say. Come back and discuss their comments with us, and you'll quickly catch up on what you need to learn. You've made the first couple of steps, now it's time to continue the journey!

Welcome.