Greetings Valvathoners

[Alex]

Greetings to all. I am in awe of all your accomplishments, truly inspiring. First time posting. Sorry for the long story, don?t know where else to turn.

My story,

I just found out 5 days ago that I have moderate PV regurgitation and RVH.
I ran a marathon 7 weeks ago. The week before the marathon I started getting chest pains on the left side. Went to emerg. Doc said all was fine, it was muscular. He was right about that, but he was drastically wrong about which muscle!!!!
I finished the marathon but ran at a much slower than usual pace because I had chest pain throughout but dismissed it as a pulled rib cage muscle and race day jitters.
I went to my family doc who sent me for blood work, EKG and a chest x-ray. All came back normal but I still had the occasional chest pain. She then sent me for the treadmill stress test which I did this past Sat. After 15+ minutes the tech told me to stop, and that she had never seen anyone run that long without hitting his or her target heart rate. I was feeling great and told them I had not had any sharp chest pains for at least a month. Went back to the cardiologist who said the results were great and to go home and keep doing what you do. I run 60 miles a week and was relieved to hear I could continue to train.
As I was leaving he said hold on, lets do an ultrasound. Someone just cancelled and the tech is just sitting there. Did the ultrasound and went home. That was 4pm on Sat. At 5pm Sat, the cardiologist called with the news.
It appears my marathon days are over. The Cardiologist told me I can run only 30 very easy minutes a day for the next month at which time I?ll have a TEE. I do all my running with a HR monitor and asked at what % of my max HR do I start making my condition worse? He did not know.
The only people who know are my wife and Brother. I feel if I tell others that they will feel sorry for me and treat me differently. I can?t have my mom find out as she has serious health issues and the stress of this could possibly kill her.
I?m extremely confused, shocked, bewildered, scared, and have no idea what to expect? I have no idea how long it took to get to this point. I had pneumonia 3.5 years ago and had Asthma as a child, but have not had an attack in almost 30 years. How quickly it will progress to severe? What about my enlarged heart? Will that improve without valve replacement? Will it make me a high-risk case if and when I need to replace the valve?

Thanks for letting me vent
Alex

 

[tommy]

Alex,

I'm sorry that you are having trouble. Glad you found us and could unload a bit. It's natural to be scared and bewildered. Sounds like you are in excellent physical shape. Hang in there.

I'm glad that you were able to complete your latest marathon. Sounds like reducing the pace was an excellent decision, knowing what you know now.

I'm not well versed in RVH. The enlarging could be due to several things including compensating for the leaking valve. Do you know what they will be looking for with the TEE? Maybe it will provde some of the answers to your questions about progression and exercise limits.

I certainly don't know the dynamics of your family, but at some point you need to clue in those that are close to you. You tell them for their sake and for yours. In the meantime, vent in here all you want.

Wishing you the best.

PS....of course I'm curious about your previous marathon(s). No need to feed my curiousity with weightier matters on your mind. 60 miles per week blows me away.

 

[ar bee]

just some comments

just some comments

* I have a similar issue iro family -after all considerations i decided to tell them that surgery is up (they anyway know about the leaking valve). I dont think it would be fair on parents not to let them know, even if they worry.

* my cardio advised to stay <80% of max heart rate. ie I work out in the 125-145 area.

* i dont quite run marathons, rowing on conceptII and bike does it for me

well2u
ar bee

 

[JimL]

Hi, Alex, and welcome! Just a note on your fear that people will feel sorry for you and treat you differently if you tell them about your heart concerns. Of course they will. And they will still be doing that to you long after you have surgery, if that is in your future. You have to tell them eventually, so you might as well let some of them in on the problem early on, so maybe they can understand correctly and be supportive.
Both my parents died before I had surgery, so I didn't face the issue of telling them. In fact, it was the first time I was glad they were both gone, so I wouldn't have to tell them. Since my heart troubles were identified very early in my life (four years age), they felt some guilt as if it were their fault I had a heart murmur.
You're among friends here. Keep us informed on your progress.

 

[Alex]

Thanks for the advice and support guys.

Tom, I have no problem feeding your curiosity LOL regarding my marathons. I was never a runner, thought I was somewhat active. I started running 6 years ago at age 38. I did my first marathon that same year and ran a 4:34. I have now run 6 with a PR of 3:05. My goal up until Sat. was to run a sub 3 in the spring. So much for that!!
60 miles sounds like alot to most people. But some of us are just a tad more curious to see how much we can push our body?s limitations. I have never had a running related injury beacuse I was never afraid to take extra days off. We all have our own reasons and goals to why we run or exercise. The first day I ran, I lasted 5 minutes and could not run another step. I thought anyone who can run 5k is nuts for running that far.

How did I improve so much?
1- When your training calls to run easy-run easy so your legs are well rested for speedwork and long runs. Listen to your body and build mileage slowly. Run with a heartrate monitor and forget about what pace you should be running. Most runners run their easy runs too fast. Run within your target heart rate zones. Don't be afraid to take extra days off if you feel sick or an injury coming on. Get off the road and onto hilly trails if you plan on running high milage.
2- Eat and drink healthier. Don't go drastic, substitute. I used to eat a bag of potato chips in 1 sitting. Now I'll have BBQ flavored Soy puffs which have ~350 calories per bag. Subways is the only fast food I will eat. I started drinking more water and eating more protein to speed up recovery, and fiber to suppress hunger. I do not have the will power to do this all the time. So what I do is, one Sunday a month I eat all the chips, cookies and Ice cream. food I please.
3- The best part of doing this was that I started losing lbs. and boosting my metabolism. I never went to the gym. I have an exercise ball. When we wind down with the kids at night, we all do push-ups, sit ups, back extensions etc during the TV commercials. You'd be amazed how much of a difference this makes. I ran my first marathon at 190 and my PR at 160. Lugging around 30 less lbs. makes a world of difference.

Alex

 

[tommy]

Alex,

Thanks for sharing. You've given me some good ideas. I've been into Subway and water. Need more rest, more hills, and fewer lbs. I believe in cross training, but don't squeeze it in. For the latest marathon, I reduced to running 3 days per week, and probably could take a few more days off no and then.

I started at age 49 and didn't last 2 minutes. Gradual increments and perserverance have worked. My hamstrings tighten up whenever I lenghten my stride for any speed at all. I need to get past that to get any faster.

I'd love to be at 190! How tall are you? 3:05 is pretty amazing.

Whatever procedure or surgery that may be in your future, peoples' postings in here have shown that those in great fitness fare very well in recovery. Again, wishing you the best!

 

[Alex]

Tom,

I'm 5"11.
For tight hams, usually pelvis related, but that might not be the root of the problem.
As for you running, just keep plugging away and listen to your body.

Alex