continue my routine?

[kman]

Im a hard working 55 year old landscape architect who tries to stay in shape, Im not exactly a gym rat but I do get exercise of some sort every day, last week after an echocardiogram my physician told me to knock off the workouts. I meet with my cardiologist this friday and will get his input but would like to get advice from those who have been where I am now. I just found out that my aortic diameter is less than .1 and my heart wall has thickened, six months ago it was 1.4 so it looks like surgery is looming. I do get dizzy with exertion and take naps in the afternoon most days now. I want to be in the best shape possible before I go under the knife, but dont want to do any more damage. I dont know which is worse going into this out of shape or risk doing further damage or even killing myself.
confused and concerned about exercise
The K Man

 

[Susan BAV]

Your doctor's advice sounds very reasonable to me. Your next appointment is just a couple of days away so it won't hurt to wait until you talk to him, will it?

I read your other post too; welcome to the site and glad you found it.

I don't know if anyone else mentioned it to you but a fairly common occurence here is that the worse your valve becomes, then the faster it becomes worse. My dizzy spells were becoming much more frequent right before my surgery and when they did an angiogram on me they said I needed the valve replaced "in weeks," and I had a new one a week later. I had been needing frequent naps too and now I hardly ever need/want a nap.

The other thing you need to know is--and this isn't to scare you but maybe you haven't read this yet--that sometimes the first time a person passes out with a failing valve is when they expire. So don't take chances.

I don't know what part of California you're in but this southern part has been horrendously hot over the past several days and if you've been outside working in this stuff, well, I think it's the wrong thing for you to be doing at this stage of the game.

BTW, Are you a bicuspid? Take care and please keep us all posted.

 

[Philip B]

Gym Rat?

Gym Rat?

You don't have to be a "gym rat" to be good shape. If you approach surgery in decent physical shape, you'll probably do okay.

Simply based upon the brief description of your condition that you've provided, I echo Susan's opinion. Why not lay-off the workouts until you visit with your cardio doc? It's probably not worth taking chances and skipping the workout stuff for a few days isn't going to have a major impact on your fitness level if surgery is scheduled soon.

In late February of 2007, I was told I needed AVR surgery and a repair of an aortic aneurysm. They couldn't get me scheduled for surgery until March 28th. The docs told me to stop skiing and jogging. They did let me go to Mexico to play golf for a week just before surgery. Basically, I stopped my regular exercise program for about a month before surgery. I came through surgery with no problem and my recovery has been fairly quick.

Opinions may vary, but it takes some effort and time to get in decent physical shape. I don't believe people who are in decent shape revert to poor physical condition immediately because they miss a few days or even weeks of their exercise routine.

I must say I kinda like the term "gym rat". It has a much nicer ring to it than the more freuently used term "exercise junkie".

-Philip

 

[tprice54]

Looming indeed

Looming indeed

I was lucky enough to have a cardio who listened to how I felt as more so than any tests...he told me I would know when it was time for surgery. I ran a half amrathon in sept. '06, and by December I could not run a mile...so we both decided it was time for surgery. Based on your post, I think you know it's time...you don't need to worry about staying in shape now.

 

[WayneGM]

Firstly, welcome to the VR community. Sorry for the circumstances but glad you found us.

You don't have to "workout" to stay in shape, and I suggest you listen to your doctor if that's the advice being given. I'm the exact opposite of a "gym rat" but walk alot and work in the garden, etc. so was in decent shape pre-op. I'm sure activity like walking would be sufficient to keep you in decent shape ahead of the surgery without overdoing it. Best wishes and good luck.

 

[SumoRunner]

Yeah, I had to back off from my workouts for several months prior to the surgery too. I was a 35-40 mile per week runner. The MD just said, why risk any more damage? There will be plenty of time to get back in shape after recovery. And he was right. I was off my routine for less than a year.

Looking back, it just wasn't that big a deal giving it up for a few months. You lose some strength and conditioning but the fact that you had been in good shape for so long means that getting it back is far easier than starting out from scratch. Within 6 mos. your body will never know you paused training at all.

 

[Marguerite53]

Hello, Kman. Welcome to our community.

First of all, I am not a gym rat and went into this whole thing quite abit overweight, not exercising regularly, and came through with flying colors! To me, it's a lot about attitude.

If your aortic valve is closing up, stenotic, it can be likened to a garden hose (with which you are very familiar) being run full force with your thumb pressed over the end of it. Blockage and thus pressure change to the flow. The blood backs up abit, the pressure circulating changes, the heart has to work harder. When the heart has to work harder every day, over time, it changes shape to compensate. Or, muscle that it is, it thickens up. Not what the heart is meant to do.

Every time you work out, you raise your heart rate. I think (don't quote me on this) that to some degree, you are making your heart work even harder now than it should! So you need to give the system a break until you are fixed. Most certainly, PLEASE refrain from heavy lifting. Those sudden surges in blood pressure (from lifting heavy things) can REALLY wreak havoc on your taxed system and possibly cause you to pass out.

This all sounds like a bummer, but in fact......it all gets fixed in surgery!!!

If it were me, I'd alert my crew that if you were to pass out, obviously call 911 and tell them that you have aortic stenosis so they will know what to do for you. Not meaning to scare you.

I was exceedingly light-headed towards the end and told to wait and wait until the valve reached .7 (3 years). I ended up then having to postpone surgery to take care of a few other things (colonoscopy and breast biopsy) and ended up on the table with a .53 cm squared valve!! But I am SO FINE now. Just a little aggravated to have taken it down so close!

Be well. Come back and ask all the questions you need. We're here 24/7.

Marguerite

 

[gageyk]

I'm a firm believer in the walking/ hiking regimen for exercise. For 2 years prior to my AVR I was told to keep my heart rate at 70% of max. That limited me from what I was used to, lots of mountain biking in the mountains. I could ride a bike on the flats, boring and very difficult to do where I live, running was hard on my heart so I resorted to long walks and lots of hiking and occasionally I snuck in a bike ride where I broke all the rules.

I had AVR 4 weeks ago and am now back at work. I felt great since about 3 days after surgery and I've walked 2-3 hours almost every day since surgery. I've never spent a day in the gym in my life. My recovery has been flawless.

So my suggestion is to walk at least hour or so every day so when the day comes you won't miss a beat.

 

[jds]

I Suggest Altering Your Workouts

I Suggest Altering Your Workouts

Hello -

Before my MVR, I had developed pulmonary hypertension which is a common side-effect of MV regurg. Also, potentially very serious. My cardio gave me the same advice you got - back off things that jack up blood pressure - weights, running, etc.

So I cut back to just walking a fair amount and recuperated pretty well.

When cardiologists and cardiac surgeons talk about trying to get in shape for surgery, you should understand their standards are pretty low. If you don't smoke, are not overweight, and move around every day (even walking) you are way ahead of what they think of as the norm for cardiac surgery patients.

One thing I did not do but would have benefitted from would be a regular stretching program - especially stretching your back. The OHS bends your back in ways it was not designed to be bent. Flexibility there will help your recuperation a lot.

Post surgery, get up and moving as fast as possible - first day out of the ICU. You won't feel like it but the sooner you move around the better.

John