aortic valve replacement and aortic root repair

[mick]

Two weeks ago I had my aortic valve replaced with a "St. Judes" and in addittion I had a bulge in my aoritc artery and part of that was replaced with a composite graft. I knew I had a murmur since I was 6 years old but never had it investigated until the latter part of Sept. on reccomendation of my family dr.. What followed was an echocardiogram which the results came back as my arotic valve was significantly calcified for a man my age {50}.
Next came the angiogram by another caridiologist. Even though at this point in time in my life if I was having symptoms they were very minimal. I am very acitve love to excercise and lift weights and have gotten real serious with it the last 3 years-lost weight {28 lbs} toned up and have never felt better about my self. So the thought of facing open heart surgery came as a real shock to me, my dr. give me a choice we can watch it with an echogram every 6 months and wait till it gets worse or replace it now. He emphasized that the condition would not improve with age, only get worse. So I made the decesion to have it replaced on the 17th of Jan. Other than being sore in my chest area and my back and shoulders and trying to adjust to the clicking sound when I am trying to sleep I am doing fine. I dearly love to excercise, and from what I am reading no problem with all kinds of cardio. But what concerns me is there is divided opinions on weight lifting, expecially on those patients that have have had repair work on the artery itself where as part of it is replaced with the composite graft. I apologize for this letter being so long but if anyone has any information concerning the weightlifting please post I would love to hear as much information on the subject as possible. Thanks

Mick

 

[inlaguna]

Mick

If you do a search on this site you will find some interesting posts on the topic. When you lift heavy weights your BP increases and can cause probelms around the valve or graft. I was given no restrictions after surgery, but I am still cautious.

I am running 3-4 miles a day ( treadmill) and have no problems and have started to do arm curls/ lat pulls / tricep exercises. I do not have the courage at this point to do chest presses etc.......Generally they recommend lots of reps and light weight. I am waiting a few more weeks/months before I step it up, but I will not be entering any clean-and-jerk competitions even after that.

I have heard things on both sides......but ask lots of questions regarding your condition.....tissue around the repair etc...


Dan

 

[Creed3]

Hi Mick!

Hi Mick!

Welcome to this wonderful site. Everyone is GREAT! Very very supportive and helpful.
To help answer your question; I had my aortic valve replaced with a st. jude mechanical and I also had a dacron graft put in to replace my ascending aorta. I had a dissection/anuerysm. My doctors all told me that I could do normal lifting. That meant nothing that was to push my body to the limit.....such as weight lifting. He told me I could use light weights, but nothing where I pushed my body too far. Exercise and keeping in shape is very good for you but in my case they don't know what caused the dissection/anuerysm and they don't want to take any chances on something else happening. You should definitely talk this over with your cardio. He will be able to guide you in the right direction.

Take Care!
Gail

 

[tobagotwo]

First off, I assume you didn't intend to start lifting anything for a while. You're usually restricted for four to eight weeks from lifting even a full gallon of milk. Your sternum is still healing together. It's not muscle strength that's the issue with lifting things right now.

In my layman's opinion, with one already-discovered aneurism, it is likely that you have some connective tissue problems. If so, there is risk in lifting heavier weights for you over time, in terms of developing an aneurism in another place or even complications with the valve seating. Not guaranteed, but certainly a risk.

The good news is that lighter weights with reps are available, and, as you pointed out, cardio workouts are available. (Not just yet with either, of course.) See if you could feel good about channelling all that healthwise energy into different roads to fitness.

If your goal is to feel good about your health-related accomplishments, and to look good in a muscle shirt, that is still entirely available to you at negligible risk.

Best wishes,

 

[hensylee]

Welcome, Mick. You might search for some of those threads about weight lifting. There have been lots of discussions about it, as well as other exercises. And more members will come along to answer the question, as well. Be careful for awhile, anyhow. Blessins.....