"coronary left ventricular fistula" on the septal branch?????

[sylviayasgur]

hi y'all!
last i updated on joey's 6 month echo, a mod. to severe leak was found in the area of his av.
he had his tee yesterday and the cardio went over his results with us. the tee itself was easy and i was actually in the room with them until the cardio was about to put the scope down his throat. it was so nice of him to let me stay that long.
i really like this partner in the cardio group we go to_smart and great bedside manner, real easygoing.

so...the findings.... it seems that joey has a trivial mild leak at the av which was picked up on before he left the hospital immediately following his surgery. the valve is working well, and the stitches are all intact. there is, however, another leak that he said seems to be coming from an artery. it's not a really bad one, but coupled with the mild av leak, it presented itself on the echo as a mod to severe leak (also the leaks are shooting opposite directions)
my question to any of you is, have any of you heard of this? he said it may have been caused by a stitch poking it or by the clamp during bypass, but joey said that it would have shown up on the post surgical echo at that time, no?

he didn't seem terribly alarmed and said that he had never seen this before, but that it seems to be just that, a leaking artery. sometimes they close up on their own, other times something needs to be done.
he aslo suggested we ask dr. stelzer (surgeon) with whom we meet this tuesday, because he suspects that a surgeon is more familiar with these types of things.

if any of you have any info about this, please come forward. i don't know if we're being prematurely optimistic, but he made it clear that they would not be opening joey up for this...
keep all your fingers crossed. stay well,
sylvia

 

[Nancy]

Hi Sylvia-

Don't have any experience with my Joe regarding the specific problems Joey has. I certainly hope it's all as the doctor says and that they won't have to open him up, and that it will heal itself. How is Joey feeling physically?

I'll be anxious to hear what the surgeon has to say.

Good wishes your way.

 

[Mara]

Sylvia and Joey-
I guess you got good news and not so good news.
I have a small murmur on my valve too. the cardio called it a flow murmur. But, that's great news that the Ross is working!

I have never heard of the other thing. Hmmmm. Here's hoping it closes up on its own!

Good thoughts your way
-Mara

 

[hensylee]

Hope it can be fixed without too much poking about - he's already had enough of that - We must take care of all these fellas named Joe - Right Nancy? Sounds like Joey's doing ok o/w and that's the real good news. God bless

 

[sylviayasgur]

thank you all for your replies and well wishes.
joey, surprisingly, is feeling really good_not great as he thinks he should, but good. he is still running and the only thing he is not allowed to do for the time being is lifting weights and push-ups. he had been doing these for the very first time in his life and was soooo thrilled!!!
he is very attune to his body and thought he would be feeling even better. (he had read all these things about feeling so good, you couldn't feel better_ he feels good, but he could feel even better).

i,too, am curious to hear what dr. stelzer has to say. i will be sure and post after we meet with him on tues.
thanks again. God bless you all,
sylvia