Flying Home Tomorrow

[Bradley White]

Hi All,

Just finished reading all of your warm responses to my girlfriend's update on Thursday night. Thanks for all the well wishes on the recovery process.

I had to get my aortic root replaced along with my valve, so my decision was between a mechanical valve with a sleeve acting as the root and a homograft of valve and root. It was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but I decided to go with the homograft...

The recoevery so far has been uneventful, except for annoying neck and back pain. Luckily, Mayo has a message therapsit on staff so I was able to get a few messages which helped a lot. They released me this morning and I am in the hotel now. My flight home is at 2:30 tomorrow. Can't wait to be able to sleep in my own bed again, see my friends, etc, etc.

Got my discharge echo today and the surgeon said there is no leak in the homograft and for the first time in nearly 24 years I am murmur free! He is hoping to extend the life of the homograft by putting me on a minimal dose of an anti-lipid agent. He said there has been some pretty exciting research recently presented about extending the life of homografts and other tissue valves by treating the patient with a very low dose of lipitor. I'm not sure what they belive the mechanism is for this increase in valve life-span...

Finally, he said my scar tissue was not a big issue and he doesn't think it will when the time for my third operation comes around....so all is well...talk to you guys again soon.

Brad

 

[WayneGM]

Glad to hear you're having an uneventful recovery. The back and neck pains are typical. Take care and get well.

 

[Karlynn]

Have a safe trip home Brad! And don't forget to take it really easy once you get there. But you already know the drill. I'm happy to read that things look great.

 

[Phyllis]

So happy to read that you have been let "free", Brad and just want to wish you a safe trip home and an uneventful recovery. Remember to let someone else carry the bags!

 

[elliottj]

Welcome back Brad, I'm so glad you are doing well and please keep us posted on your speedy recovery.

Jay

 

[tobagotwo]

Glad to hear you are ready to go home, and that your recovery is going smoothly. Time to get used to your new heart.

The research with Lipitor and other cholesterol drugs has all been negative so far. Your surgeon spends too much time with pharmaceutical salespeople talking about what research hopes to find, and not enough with the results of the research that has already been done. You have nothing to be concerned with for a long time, though.

Best wishes,

 

[Bradley White]

thanks for the info bob...he said it definitely wasn't definitive and up to me if i take it, so maybe i won't

 

[Bradley White]

although i just did a pubmed search and didn't find any the negative results you are referring to. do you have a link?

 

[Marguerite53]

Brad that is all fabulous news!! I'm so glad to hear that all the reports are positive.

Now be really good to yourself. Go easy travelling. Remember that airplanes are like germ factories.......will they let you swab a little antibiotic inside your nostrils to prevent catching a virus? If not, pick up some saline solution (you know, Ocean....for the nose...just a little nose spray, $2) and keep your nostrils moist. My understanding (for heaven's sake, check me on it anyone) is that if you keep your nasal passages moist (not dripping) then it is more difficult for a virus to attach. (at any rate, wash your hands a lot and don't go sticking your fingers in your mouth or eyes!! Okay.... the mother hen will let go now..... )

I think I speak for all of us when I say we are really proud of you!!! This has not been an easy journey for you, and you sound so good now. I'm so glad that it is all going so well.

Safe trip!!

Marguerite

 

[tobagotwo]

I'm furious. I spent most of an hour crafting a reply, and I got a can't-display-page error when I went to post, and it was all gone...

Here's an article:

Reuters <http://www.reuters.com>

Lipitor does not prevent narrowing in heart valve
Thu Jun 9, 2005 7:54 AM ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - The popular cholesterol-reducing drug Lipitor made by Pfizer does not prevent obstruction of the heart valve that leads to the aorta, the body's largest artery, according to recent findings published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

In a study conducted to determine whether the drug, also known under its generic name atorvastatin, did more than just reduce cholesterol, doctors found that Lipitor failed to prevent obstructions that can keep the heart from pumping blood adequately.

The condition, known as calcified aortic stenosis, occurs when a key heart valve narrows or becomes blocked, preventing the heart from pumping blood properly and can manifest itself in spite of reductions of cholesterol levels, according to the study.

Surgery is usually required to fix it.

Aortic stenosis affects 3 percent of adults over 75, making it the most common valve defect in North America and Europe and occurs gradually over several decades. By the time symptoms appear, surgery is typically needed to repair or replace the valve.

As part of the study, 155 volunteers with signs of calcified aortic stenosis were given a placebo or Lipitor, which like other drugs known as statins slow the narrowing of small heart arteries caused by heart disease.

After a little more than two years, the team led by Joanna Cowell of Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh found that the drug brought cholesterol levels down as expected but produced no real improvement as far as obstructions are concerned.

"Aortic stenosis progresses despite intensive reductions in serum cholesterol concentrations," the Cowell team concluded.

The study was funded in part by an educational award from Pfizer, a grant from the British Heart Foundation and the Welcome Trust Clinical Resource Facility in Scotland.

In an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine, Raphael Rosenhek of the Vienna General Hospital in Austria agreed, saying that prescribing statins "is not justified" unless a patient has another, more established, reason for taking the medicine.
_____

© Reuters 2005. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Apatite (calcification) growing on the valve that causes stenosis also is the cause of replacement tissue valve decline.

The study was funded by two statin manufacturers, by the way - and the results were surely not what they had been hoping for.

Here is the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It's a thorough and well-documented work: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/352/23/2389. For those who prefer less reading, here is the link to the abstract: http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/352/23/2389. Here's a thread: http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15632&highlight=Lipitor There are more, just do a VR.com search on Lipitor and user tobagotwo.

Cholesterol deposits and cardiolytic apatite do share a couple of ingredients, mostly because they get them from the same source. However, cholesterol deposits range from soft and spongey to mildly hard, and apatite is rock-hard and brittle.

One of the common hallmarks of a bicuspid valve (even a heavily encrusted one) is otherwise extremely clean arteries. Even though I didn't have a bicuspid valve, my interventional cardiologist grudgingly remarked during my presurgical cath that my arteries were "Great. In fact, they're fantastic."

I'm not saying you shouldn't take Lipitor if you believe it will be to your advantage. However, I'm not taking it, and I wouldn't personally take it solely in hopes of prolonging my valve life.

Best wishes,

 

[Guest]

Uneventful is good .

Good to see you posting, again, Brad ... thoughts/prayers for continued uneventfulness and a safe trip home.



Cort:33swm."Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
MCinfo.hobbies.RTs.pics.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Enough is enough, I can't take anymore" ... Alabama ... 'Can't Keep A Good Man Down'

 

[Susan BAV]

Hi Brad - Pace yourself for the trip home. Safe flight. We're all rooting for you. And my not-always-humble opinion is: the less meds the better.

 

[Steph]

Great news Brad. Have a safe flight and please take care. Rest up, you have done a great job!!!!!! I will be praying for an uneventful recovery to follow!

Steph

 

[marciemarine]

Brad, Have a safe trip home and I hope your recovery is smooth and happy.
Marcie

 

[CathyK.]

Brad, so glad to hear that you are on your way home. Welcome home and good luck with your recovery. As far as the cholesterol meds go, my first cardio wanted to put me on some and said new studies showed that it was suppose to slow the process of the valve getting worse. However when I questioned him on it and stated that my cholesterol has always been fine and why mess with something that wasn't broken he got upset and now I have a new Cardio and he never mentioned the medicine.

Take it easy and here's to an uneventful recovery! God Bless!!

 

[davidfortune]

Brad,

Congrats on an uneventful surgery and hospital stay. You were constantly on my mind and prayers. I don't know how I missed this thread until now. Anyway - I'm very glad to hear it went well and wish you many years of valve longevity.

David