Hello all,
First post here. Here's my story. Late last December, I started experiencing what a doctor initially thought was acid reflux (something I had never had before). The doctor then prescribed Tecta, a proton pump inhibitor...but the symptoms continued.
At a follow up appointment at the same walk in clinic, a different doctor listened to my heart and lungs. 'Has anyone ever told you you have a heart murmur?'
No, this was the first time. I had been the 'picture of good health', 43 years old, active in powerlifting and drumming...and had undergone a fairly recent medical checkup without mention of it.
I watched as the doctor filled in the murmur description...'Severe'. He told me to 'Go straight to emergency if you notice any symptoms'
As others have described, one leaves the medical office in a degree of shock. There is a realization (although perhaps initially mixed with an element of denial) that one's life is about to change...in a big way. And it is.
This year, I had OHS to replace a severely regurgitating bicuspid aortic valve, and repair an ascending aortic aneurysm. The cardiac surgeon described the 'flailing' valve regurgitation as 'rushing'.
I was fading fast going into surgery and rapidly losing the ability to breathe.
Somehow, I made it out alive, despite the cardiac surgeon describing the prognosis as 'hour by hour'.
Seemingly, overnight, I had lost all my muscle mass (literally), replaced with 25 new lbs of fluid retention, from my feet and ankles, to my hips and stomach.
Fast forward to now...I'm running and walking 3 miles a day (sprints and steady state cardio). I lost all the water weight months ago and am regaining muscle mass.
My resting heart rate was around 90bpm after surgery. Today, around 5 months later, it is approx 45bpm (with a sinus rhythm), which I attribute more to the cardio and muscle memory, rather than the 2.5mg daily dose of Bisoprolol, (which I hope to come off of soon). Systolic blood pressure has come up too. Resting systolic was in the 80s post surgery, now around 115. Thankfully, the angiogram showed my arteries were crystal clear.
My recovery continues. Thank you to this site and its members for providing an excellent resource at times like this.
First post here. Here's my story. Late last December, I started experiencing what a doctor initially thought was acid reflux (something I had never had before). The doctor then prescribed Tecta, a proton pump inhibitor...but the symptoms continued.
At a follow up appointment at the same walk in clinic, a different doctor listened to my heart and lungs. 'Has anyone ever told you you have a heart murmur?'
No, this was the first time. I had been the 'picture of good health', 43 years old, active in powerlifting and drumming...and had undergone a fairly recent medical checkup without mention of it.
I watched as the doctor filled in the murmur description...'Severe'. He told me to 'Go straight to emergency if you notice any symptoms'
As others have described, one leaves the medical office in a degree of shock. There is a realization (although perhaps initially mixed with an element of denial) that one's life is about to change...in a big way. And it is.
This year, I had OHS to replace a severely regurgitating bicuspid aortic valve, and repair an ascending aortic aneurysm. The cardiac surgeon described the 'flailing' valve regurgitation as 'rushing'.
I was fading fast going into surgery and rapidly losing the ability to breathe.
Somehow, I made it out alive, despite the cardiac surgeon describing the prognosis as 'hour by hour'.
Seemingly, overnight, I had lost all my muscle mass (literally), replaced with 25 new lbs of fluid retention, from my feet and ankles, to my hips and stomach.
Fast forward to now...I'm running and walking 3 miles a day (sprints and steady state cardio). I lost all the water weight months ago and am regaining muscle mass.
My resting heart rate was around 90bpm after surgery. Today, around 5 months later, it is approx 45bpm (with a sinus rhythm), which I attribute more to the cardio and muscle memory, rather than the 2.5mg daily dose of Bisoprolol, (which I hope to come off of soon). Systolic blood pressure has come up too. Resting systolic was in the 80s post surgery, now around 115. Thankfully, the angiogram showed my arteries were crystal clear.
My recovery continues. Thank you to this site and its members for providing an excellent resource at times like this.
