Doctor has given me a timeframe for the first time for surgery but it appears I have fallen into severe range..please see echos below and my post

[Chuck C]

I would like to confirm SVD is Small Vessel Disease?

Resists urge to come up with comical meaning for the term.

It actually represents Structural Valve Degeneration, referring to what eventually happens to biological prosthetic valves.

 

[pellicle]

You may not be a candidate.
This information you seem to either not fully understand or you're ignoring it.

its easier to ignore the bad news until its knocking on your door

 

[pellicle]

Oh, and @BGold
when chuck says this its not just "his impression"

Structural Valve Degeneration, referring to what eventually happens to biological prosthetic valves

This is a very well understood issue and is played down by surgeons who (really only look at 10 years out).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcts.2003.12.013

Reoperation is a relatively common event in patients with prosthetic heart valves, but its actual occurrence can vary widely from one patient to another.​

this is widely discussed in the literature AND in the surgical guidelines. Remember that while actual occurrence varies widely this means that the rates vary widely and there are well known and well understood parameters. These boil down to your age at surgery.

If I had a dollar for every person who came here saying "I've not heard this before" I'd be independently supported financially.

something else to read:
https://cardiothoracicsurgery.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13019-020-01155-6

The mechanisms are reasonably clear:
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.120.018506
So its up to the patient to advocate for themselves when making an informed decision.

While walking that path, try not to read shills (like that Adam salesman) and to read actual data and (shock) try to believe what genuine patients on "blood thinners" say about the experience.

Try not to "hope" for things until you actually know. My lovely wife would always say "be careful what you ask for, you might just get it"

Best Wishes

 

[carolinemc]

I would like to confirm SVD is Small Vessel Disease?

Here is what I found for SVD:

• SVD. Singular Value Decomposition. Geography, Geodesy, Technology. Geography, Geodesy, Technology. 20. SVD. Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery + 2 variants. Medical, Obstetrics, Gynecology. Medical, Obstetrics, Gynecology. I think you need a different term.

 

[Halimaamos]

Hey there, sorry to hear about your health issues. I'm new to this forum and was browsing through some threads when I stumbled upon your post. I'm not a medical professional, so I can't provide any medical advice, but I can definitely understand the stress and confusion you must be going through. It's good to hear that you're planning to get a second opinion and that you're considering all your options, including going back to the States for the surgery.

 

[Protimenow]

I had my aortic valve replaced when I was 41. This wasn't an emergency but I needed it.

When I had it done, I was still relatively strong. I had a good job and good insurance and asked my doctor how weak I had to be before I can get the surgery.

Six months later, I had no job and no insurance.

I didn't want to wait until I was too weak to get the best results.

The anticoagulation was pretty much a non issue.

Why wait?