Do you all ever wonder................

[Mileena46]

about how fortunate we all are to live in a time where our hearts could be mended? I was reading a post by someone earlier this morning that stated they were happy to live in this time because of the medical advantages. I have often thought about this....being that when I needed surgery I needed it quickly and if that had not been available to me (6 months ago) I would either be dead today or living a very poor quality of life.

In my grandmothers lifetime....when she was mid-40s as I am..had this happened to her she would not have lived long enough for me to even know her. It's great in a way, for us and sad for those who lived before who could have benefitted from this surgery.

I guess that is the way it is with all diseases. I am still just glad we are living in this time today!!!

Mileena

 

[Danny]

I second that. Im thankful everyday that they found my anurysm and were able to repair it. If they wouldnt have found it, theres no telling how much longer it would be before they found me on the ground and not know what happened. I think until somthing like these things happen, alot of people take for granted how precious our lives really are. I also wish alot more people who dont have heart problems would find this site, so they can see what we all really went or are going through. I felt like such a freak leading up to my surgery, and no one except the wonderful people on this site understood what i was going through or the anxiety that came with it.

 

[Jkm7]

In my grandmothers lifetime....when she was mid-40s as I am..had this happened to her she would not have lived long enough for me to even know her. It's great in a way, for us and sad for those who lived before who could have benefitted from this surgery.

I
Mileena

Yes, Mileena, I do think about it.

My father's father died at 48, before I was born and his father died before age 50.
My father died at 48. He had his first heart attack at 36 years old. Way too young.

I am now well past that age and would surely have not survived were it not for my two OHS.

Long history of heart issues in my family tree so I know what probably would have been my fate.

 

[Adrienne]

I don't wonder - I KNOW how fortunate I am!!

On the other hand, in 50 years, people will probably think this was the dark ages!

 

[Mentu]

It is, indeed, a wonderful time in which to live when a failing heart valve can be corrected with such excellent results. I have been thinking a lot in these past weeks about the Grandfather I never knew because he died at 48 in 1954. I almost certainly got my heart valve problem from him but he lived in the time before good diagnostics, heart surgery and valve replacement. He died knowing only that he had a heart murmur and that it was somehow related to the growing fatigue he felt. His absence left a hole in our family and affected me and all of my cousins. Now, for the first time in my life, I feel a connection to him that was never there before. Another of the unanticipated consequences of OHS.

Larry

 

[river-wear]

Absolutely, Mileena! I've even been thankful for smaller stuff like antibiotics before. I guess I have thought about it more because sometimes my husband likes to say he was born too late because he would have loved to work on the space program back in the '50s and '60s. Being rather pragmatic, I've always said "no thank you" because of modern medicine.

Danny - we aren't freaks. We're special because we realize how good we've got it. And I'd argue that anyone who goes through OHS is pretty tough too!

 

[Nancy]

My husband's first surgery came at a time when valve replacements were not done a lot. He had rheumatic fever when he was a teenager and spent a year in the hospital. From that, he had heart damage and was told as a young fellow to enjoy his life because he would die early at around age 50. Enjoy his life he did!

And just a few years before he turned 50, he had his first valve replacement with one of the new kids on the block (Bjork-Shiley aortic valve). He was supposed to get a pig valve, but his doctors determined that he would have too much of a reaction to the tissue valve.

Joe died at age 75 with that Bjork-Shiley chugging along until the very last second. And along the way, he received a St. Jude mitral mechanical.

He felt like a very lucky man. All of his high school buddies died before he did, some with operable heart conditions that they didn't want to have fixed.

It is a miracle, that's for sure.

 

[sue943]

My maternal grandfather died of valvular disease, he was about sixty I think.

My own father died of coronary heart disease when he was fifty-one. The use of warfarin back then wasn't as understood as it is today (oh stop laughing), he was given warfarin for a while and his blood was only tested just before he saw the cardiologist. He went for a blood test on the Thursday in time to see the cardiologist the following day, I don't know what the results were but first the hospital telephoned our neighbour as we didn't have a phone, then the police came, then our GP came, all to tell him not to take any more - he would only have taken one more dose before his appointment. He was taken off warfarin and died suddenly a few weeks later.

Since they were concerned that I wouldn't even make it through my surgery I know for sure that if it was years ago I would be dead and buried long since.

 

[Dale]

I think of this every day too and marvel at my good fortune to have been able to have a new chance at life. I've been told that my bicuspid valve is hereditary, but there have not been any early deaths due to heart issues in my family in the past. I do know now that one of my kids has it too as he has been tested and now he can be monitored. I hope by the time he is 50 or so there are excellent non-invasive ways to correct the problem if he needs it. That's how I like to think of it, as a correction or fix.

At the same time, I feel guilty somehow that I am not fully taking advantage of my new "life" by not exercising enough, etc. etc. It's coming up to a year now and the difference is like night and day. Being able to share experiences and fears and thoughts with this group is invaluable isn't it?
Thanks to all,

Dale

 

[Maryka]

I think about it all of the time, also! I give thanks to God every day for the opportunity to live long enough to know my grandchildren!

 

[Mileena46]

Dale,

I am in that boat of thinking why am I not doing more about my health now? Just because I had valve surgery doesn't mean that down the line I won't need a by-pass. I have been researching heart healthy diets and recipes and trying to get motivated to start an exercise program that I can stick with! I keep telling myself that once the weather breaks here and I can get out to walk that would help a lot.

I can understand everyone's story. Those of you who lost parents and grandparents years ago with heart problems. I know that when I run up on someone who has had OHS as well, we always seem to connect. I guess its easy for people who have been through this to understand....whether or not it was valve related.


My problem is I was a heavy smoker and stopped after surgery, so food really taste GOOD to me! I no longer crave a smoke, but I do still like to eat! There are some great healthy recipes online, I just haven't cooked them yet.

Mileena

 

[MarkU]

Just prior to my AVR my cardiologist told me I had a life expectancy of about three years if I didn't get my valve replaced. That was nine years ago. Thinking about it certainly helps me to be thankful. Especially when I think about the things that I would have missed, like my kids graduating from college.

I think that going through my AVR has maded me a better person in a lot of ways. I'm certainly more laid back and don't let things bother me as much as they did prior to my surgery.

My paternal grandfather died at age 56, after his second heart attack. I was only 3 and I never got to know him. Back in those days (mid 50's) they just sent the patient home to "rest" for six weeks. Sometimes I wonder how things would have been different if he had lived in a different time.

Mark

 

[deano89]

when they first told me i needed surgery my first toughts were i am a dead man walking with a 50 - 50 chance! live or die, so yes i am so glad that i live in a time when they not only can fix the problems but they have also got it to such a level of excellence that they can give odds of around 1% how fantastic is that for such major surgery!

 

[Jkm7]

Dale,

I am in that boat of thinking why am I not doing more about my health now? Just because I had valve surgery doesn't mean that down the line I won't need a by-pass. I have been researching heart healthy diets and recipes and trying to get motivated to start an exercise program that I can stick with! I keep telling myself that once the weather breaks here and I can get out to walk that would help a lot.

I can understand everyone's story. Those of you who lost parents and grandparents years ago with heart problems. I know that when I run up on someone who has had OHS as well, we always seem to connect. I guess its easy for people who have been through this to understand....whether or not it was valve related.

My roblem is I was a heavy smoker and stopped after surgery, so food really taste GOOD to me! I no longer crave a smoke, but I do still like to eat! There are some great healthy recipes online, I just haven't cooked them yet.

Mileena

With all respect and meant with only kindness and eagerness to help, but you seem to describe yourself as the perfect candidate for Cardiac Rehab. You would be taught heart healthy eating, be guided to lifestyle changes that would help keep you heart healthy and have supervised exercise with specific exercises for you suggested.

If your insurance would cover it, you may wish to speak with your cardio for referral to a program.

You are exactly the person who could benefit the most from rehab.

CONGRATULATIONS on quitting smoking. That was the most heart healthy change you could make. Good going.

 

[traveler]

I'm glad I could be fixed. I just wish I could fixed better and for longer ; )

So maybe I'd like to have be born 20 years later ...

 

[OldManEmu]

Fortunate??

Fortunate??

I was in class 4 heart failure at the time of surgery and would have died within 2 weeks without intervention this was the surgeon's prognosis, my view was I am either fixed or if I didn't survive surgery, spared a slow death from heart failure.
Both possible outcomes were better than doing nothing.
End stage heart failure isn't fun.

 

[AgilityDog]

I too was in class IV failure, and would have been dead by Xmas if I had not finally been diagnosed and had surgery at Labor Day, 2006.

My father died in 1997 at age 67, of a massive stroke, incident to atrial fibrillation. He was off coumadin because of having a Whipple surgery for metastatic renal cell carcinoma of the duodenum.

Had he had a maze or ablation, he probably would not have needed the coumadin, and would have been able to recover from the surgery without the stroke. That's only 10 years between him and me, folks.

 

[netmiff]

The majority of the males on my father's side of the family died of "heart atttacks" in their early 60's, my grandfather dying about 1959; I often wonder if they were actually undiagnosed and untreated BAVs, but will never know now.

And yes, I am often thankful I had the surgery; I am also thankful that I have made such a great recovery that I usually know people for a while before I tell them, and it generally arises out of general conversation.

 

[Debster]

Great post-I sure do think about this very thing. My uncle's mom had rheumatic fever and died very young. My mom was 12 when she had it, and now she is 69 and still here. My mom was SO bad at her surgery, chf, balloon pump-the works. I am so thankful for her recovery and for everyones here LOVE IT!!! Deb

 

[Ruth]

Yes, I think about it all the time, and I especially thought of it in the weeks leading up to my surgery (I'm the person who wrote that post). I used the phrase "happy to live in a a time and place where my condition is treatable" as a way to psych myself up for the upcoming event. It's harder to get down in the dumps about "oh poor me I need surgery" when you focus on being thankful. It also was a good way to show a positive attitude while explaining to friends and co-workers that I was going in for OHS. The physical battle is half psychological after all.

I caught Rheumatic Fever I was 12, in 1971. The median survival time after onset is about 46 years. My parents knew that, my mom worked in a hospital, but nobody told me that I'd live into my 50's and that's it. Yet, at the time that was the deal. Perhaps they were wise, as heart valve surgery was in its infancy then (if it had been invented yet?) and it certainly wasn't the success it is today. And so, back then was not a time and place where this condition is treatable and I'm *very* happy that in the almost 40 years since - with surgeons standing on the shoulders of those who came before them - valve disease is treatable.

Ruth