Enquiries on Doing gym and competitive sports

[epstns]

I'm probably one of those who over-did things before surgery. I felt that as long as my cardio was watching the dimensions of my heart on periodic echo's, they would warn me if my heart began to get too enlarged. They did just that -- as I was deciding that it was time for surgery, the last echo before surgery showed my left ventricle to be at the top of the acceptable size range. If I hadn't decided to go for surgery, the docs would have pressed the issue.

As for what will be after surgery - most of us find that we are better after recovery than before surgery. For some of us, this takes longer, though. In my case, with all of my complications, it was at about 18 months post op that I realized how good I felt.

My first cardio diagnosed my aortic stenosis at age 52. He wanted to treat me as if I was 82. No athletic activities, just stay quiet and it will last longer. Not so - it would just be longer before I would notice symptoms, but in the meantime my life would be terrible. I fired that cardio and found one who had a specialty in valve disease among young to middle-aged patients. This made all the difference in the world. Do you get to choose your own cardio? If so, I would choose another.

 

[SumoRunner]

No athletic activities, just stay quiet and it will last longer.

I had that same conversation. The Dr said if I lead a sedentary life it would last another 4-5 years before needing replacement or if I wanted to keep doing what I was doing it would have to be soon. I opted for as soon as possible so I could return to my running.

 

[epstns]

At the time my first cardio was sentencing me to the life of an octogenarian, I was all of 52 years old and was running/jogging about 20 miles a week with no problems. I simply didn't think his was the only path for me. Once I located another cardio who specialized in valve disease among a younger population, my treatment plan became quite different. I think that an open dialog with a competent, caring cardio can usually identify the best course of treatment for each of us. It just isn't that easy to find that cardio. . .

 

[Rachel]

At the time my first cardio was sentencing me to the life of an octogenarian, I was all of 52 years old and was running/jogging about 20 miles a week with no problems. I simply didn't think his was the only path for me. Once I located another cardio who specialized in valve disease among a younger population, my treatment plan became quite different. I think that an open dialog with a competent, caring cardio can usually identify the best course of treatment for each of us. It just isn't that easy to find that cardio. . .

AMEN to that Steve!!!

 

[BostonJohn]

I am sure that many of you have heard this story, but being from the Boston area, it has come up a lot lately. Jeff Green on the Boston Celtics had an aortic aneurysm repair and a bicuspid aortic valve repair last January and he was back on the court for the start of this season. I know it is a little different than what the rest of us have/will deal with since he did not have a valve REPLACEMENT, but I think it serves as some inspiration as to what a person can achieve after a similar surgery. Here is a link to the article about his 1-year anniversary (about two weeks ago) although I think it only comments on his aneurysm repair and neglects to mention the aortic valve repair. Either way, it shows what is possible after OHS.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story...rsary-heart-surgery-slam-dunking-phoenix-suns

 

[SumoRunner]

In my estimation, I think an aneurysm is more dangerous than anything I ever had.

 

[TheGymGuy]

One part that I can really relate in this article is:

"A year ago I had heart surgery. I think about lying in bed, when I woke up from it, to where I'm at now. It's a big deal to me. I'm just glad to be here, glad to be alive, glad to be ..........."

Where the "....." are "playing basketball.", but I think most of us will happily insert activity they were looking to get to after the OHS.

 

[pumpkinhead]

In my estimation, I think an aneurysm is more dangerous than anything I ever had.

not sure what you had, but I tend to agree about aneurysm's. I had a Aortic Disection(type of aneursym). I was perfectly fine one second, the next second I was on the floor clutching my heart and turning green, unable to breath.

What my surgeon told me was this: 40% of people will die from the original attack, of the 60% remaining, 30% of them wont make it to the OR. Every hour after the original disection, your mortality rate increases by 2%.
I had my attack at 3pm on thursday, when they finally opened me up at 3:36 on friday (thanks to the ER sending me home)..my surgeon told me I had already past the 100% mark, and told my wife I had a 1 in 3 chance.

At the 4 week mark, I can honestly say I have not reached the point of just being happy to be alive yet. They had me on a ventilator for 5 days, so I could not even move my arms on my own when I woke up. Its been a long hard road so far.

As for the OP, after reading my story...when I doc says don't lift heavy weights...DON'T DO IT. Stay on top of this, you do not want yours to become a disection...then you don't have a choice of what they do.