Fear

[mbeard]

I am taking a beta blocker, atenolol, 12 grams daily, (half a pill), and it has helped me tremendously control my heart in the afternoon.

 

[Jamey T]

Like you, I was asymptomatic. I found out about my BAV 22 years before my surgery, so I had time to accept it. When my cardiologist said "It's time" I didn't argue with him. I went through testing and the surgeon told me he wanted me to go to Mayo, because he didn't want to try it. That was a stunner for me. If you aren't familiar with the Mayo Clinic, around here, they send you there when there really aren't any other options. That's when I realized maybe I waited too long. Like you, I felt fine and I could do whatever I wanted, and I was very active.

When I went in for surgery, I had already accepted the fact that I may not wake up, but more importantly to me, my wife understood that. Well, I am here since there is a very low failure rate for this surgery. The good thing about going to surgery in good health like I did was that my recovery was very fast. I went in to surgery on Dec. 20th and I was released Dec 24th. I was home Christmas day. By going to the surgery in good physical shape, I was able to walk from ICU to my recovery room. The nurse was stunned that I would even try, but I needed to assure myself that I could. Going in to surgery in good health really will help you.

I didn't find this site before my surgery, but found it while I was at home recovering. I wish I could have had the chance to ask questions like you are able too, I think it would help knowing what you are going in to. You will get through this, but you have to trust that the people working on you know what they are doing. They are doing it because they really do enjoy their work, not because they have to.

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Jamey - I too knew I had BAV when I was 25 - but I still thought that if lots of people with BAV can go through their lives without needing the valve replaced why not me ? However, as I got older I knew from the progression of the stenosis that surgery was inevitable - but I would have liked more notice from the cardiologist ! I'm glad to hear that you had a very speedy and good recovery - it is encouraging

 

[Cromey]

Hi Palegirl, I'm scheduled in at St Thomas's Hospital which is also where my consultant is based. I'm also with Bupa, however private or on the NHS it would have been all the same people completing the operation in my instance.

In regards to Betablockers, I am on atenolol 50mg daily and while they take a week when you first start taking them to adjust I have had no issues. Actually I would have concerns if I was asked to stop taking them

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Palegirl, I'm scheduled in at St Thomas's Hospital which is also where my consultant is based. I'm also with Bupa, however private or on the NHS it would have been all the same people completing the operation in my instance.

Hi Cromey, I would guess it is the same surgeon and anaethethist who will be doing my op whether I was having it done via the NHS or privately, though via the NHS I would be having it at St George's, but because it's private the rest of the team are permanently from St Anthony's I think. Certainly the post-op care in St Anthony's will be different from the NHS. I believe St Anthony's is one of the few private hospitals that have Intensive Care - it's specialised in heart surgery for some years and I feel very confident in the hospital and cardiac unit there

 

[Agian]

I take 50mg of Atenolol daily. No problems whatsoever.

 

[Ovie]

I was terrified and anxious before my AVR. I even had basically an emotional break down the evening before when I was meeting with the surgeon to go over all the tests I had done during the day. I then went out and had a nice dinner, got in bed a bit early at the hotel and watched a movie before going to bed for my very early surgery. I'll tell you what, I woke up that next morning, after being a wreck for 4 months prior, having an emotional break down the day before..and I have never been so calm in my life, it was almost a high how calm I was. I think it's because I accepted that whatever was to happen was fate ( mind you I'm not religious whatsoever ) but it was now in the hands of my surgeon. I feel like once you surrender yourself finally, is when the fear goes away. You know it needs to be done, yes you've been scared, but now it's time to fight back and beat the fear and hope that everything goes as it should ( as it almost always does, Technology is such an incredible thing! )

I wish you the best on your surgery and hope you'll inform us how it went once you've reached the other side!

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Ovie,

Thanks for your message.

I'm actually very calm now. Been that way for over a week now. It happened after I talked with my GP. Part of my anxiety is that the surgeon had told me that I could go into left ventricular failure anytime or that my heart could simply stop. This was, and is, not true, I had further tests to show it, but the idea was planted in my head and whenever my heart was pounding I'd get doubts and think it was going to stop and this would generate even more anxiety. My GP showed me last week how to stop the pounding by doing the valsalva manoeuvre - it worked ! I only needed to do it a couple of times and I have not had anymore heart pounding becasue it was only due to anxiety itself ! Once that was proven to me by doing that valsalava thing, well all the anxiety dropped away !

By then I'd also found out tons more about surgery which helped enormously. I'm sorry to say my surgeon, although supposedly technically brilliant, was absoltuley no good at talking to me - she didn't want to answer my questions and was irritated by them and rushed. Her bleep went off halfway through the consultation which didn't help. Whatever, my cardiologist, endocrinologist and GP are all confident in her but saying she's no good with communication ! I have complained about that to the society for cardiothroacic surgery too ! She'll do the surgery and that's that….as a cardiologist friend of mine said "she's doing the sewing while the anaethetist and his team attend to you, you'll never have so much attention in your whole life"