Heart Valve replacement

[amortier]

My Dad (age 82) is in need of an aortic and mitrel valve replacement. He had a heart attack in 1984 and had a 4 way by-pass at that time. He had a pace maker/ defibulator put in last summer (2006). He had an angiogram in 1999. Four of the five bypasses were clear and the fifth had some blockage.
They will do another angiogram to determine if he will need by-pass surgery again only if agrees to have the valves replaced. What I would like to know is , is there anybody out there that was in his same situation and what was the out come?

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome to the VR community. You've come to the right place for information and support. I have experienced the situation you decribe myself but I am sure others will come be shortly with some insights. I just wanted to welcome you.

Heart value replacement/repair and by-passes at the same time are quite common. When I had my valve repaired I had an angiogram to see if there were blockages as that runs in my father's family. Luckily it was clear so I guess I take after my Mom. As long as you are undergoing OHS to fix one problem, they might as well fix them all. Best wishes for your father.

 

[Debster]

Hello! My mom had her mitral valve replaced and triple bypass at the same time. She was 64 at the time, and in pretty bad shape. She had full regurgitation-meaning her mitral was leaking badly. They checked and decided to do the bypasses while they were in there too. She is doing pretty well today. She has a bivent pacemaker and that has helped her tremendously. Best wishes to you, and keep us posted on your dad Deb

 

[Praline]

I had a Mitral Valve Repair and a bypass at age 64. It has been a year and a half since my OHS and I am fine. I am still working. But I was healthy otherwise.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

We have a few members who have had ByPass and Valve Replacement Surgery at the same time. I had mine separately.

Check out "Marty" in the Member's List, see his profile and read some of his posts. He had Valve Replacement surgery in his 70's and is still working part-time as an M.D. (Radiologist), not to mention playing a Lot of Golf in his 80's.

When damaged valves are replaced, the vast majority of patients feel and do MUCH Better because their body is now getting the blood circulation it needs to function better, even when they are 'older'.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Marty]

Age- no barrier

Age- no barrier

Al, thanks for remembering me. Mortier, age is not the limiting factor any more.In 1998 I was 72 and in bad shape from mitral regurgitation. I asked my surgeon if I wasn't too old for surgery. He said they no longer go by age but consider only the overall condition of the patient.I was pretty healthy otherwise. He noted that he did an aortic valve earlier in the week on an 85 year old who was doing well and about ready to go home. My surgeons teacher was Dr. Michael De Bakey who had aortic valve and aneurysm surgery last year at age 98. Last I heard, he is OK. For me the surgery( mitral valve replacement with St. Jude mechanical) was a true second chance. I was able to go back to work and play golf and have a lot of energy.

 

[amortier]

More about Dad

More about Dad

I also wanted to mention that my Dad's Dr. said that "statistics" show that he could live another 3-5 years with out surgery and the way we understood it was that he won't necessarily extend his life longer but would possibly have a better quality of life in that span of time if he had the surgery. Of course "there are no guarantee's we understand that". Right now the main complaint my dad has is that he is tired all the time, which I assume happens when your 82 yrs. old. I keep telling him that there is nothing wrong with taking a little nap in the afternoon if you need one, but he think's he should be up and at em from the time he wakes until bedtime. My dad's main fear with going through surgery is that he could end up being an invalid (as he calls it) and taking 6months plus to recover and there goes one of his years... Dad lives alone and right now he is able to do things for himself pretty good. Get to the store, go to the casino, grocery shop, go to the pool. He used to walk every morning but he hasn't been doing that for awhile, but more because his knees give him grief when he does rather than he is too tired. Although the surgeon did say he would gradually get worse through the years if he didn't have the surgery but also if he does start to go down hill say in a year from dad he can elect to have the surgery then.
We would love a lot of opinions from all of you especially the elderly tha has gone through all of this and what you think about our Dad's decisions.
Thank you so much for any and all information.
P.S. since I got so long winded I better confess, this is mortier's sister lol

 

[WayneGM]

I don't have experience with somebody elderly going through this. However, something to consider is his overall health. If he is in otherwise good health, that will work in his favour as OHS does take it's toll on you. If he waits, he runs the risk of his health deteriorating which could make OHS riskier down the road. A tough decision to be sure. In the end, he has to be comfortable and confident with his choice. Good luck, and bext wishes.

 

[Bina]

When I had my OHS, at age 46, I had 2 older room mates, both men in their 70's.
They were non-smokers, active, and seemed quite healthy.
To be honest, they recovered much faster than I did

 

[Ross]

It's impossible for any of us to say, since every individual is so complex and different. You do have to make a choice and as stated, it will not increase longevity, but enhance quality of life. If he's happy every other way except tiredness, then perhaps leave him alone, but if his tiredness is affecting his daily life in a very negative way, then he may want to do something. If he has surgery, it will take a full year for him to recover fully, so he's right in thinking about that. Who is going to take care of him while he recovers? There is just so much to think about and no guarantees that you pretty much will have to flip a coin and call it in the air.

 

[John & Joann]

Joann had 2 valves replaced (2nd Surgery) and 3 bypass done at age 59. It was a long and difficult surgery.

Make certain that you have a surgeon and hospital that are a leader in this type of surgical experience. There is no room for "read the manual" when there is much to be done. The longer you are on the pump, the more difficult the surgery becomes. 6 hr. pump and 12 hr. surgery for Joann.

 

[catwoman]

My father-in-law had a quad bypass + aortic & mitral valve replacements + replacement of the ascending aorta + repair of the tricuspid, all done right before Christmas 1989, when he was 74. It was his 2nd MV replacement, first was in late 1978 or 1979, and he had quit having annual echoes & cardiac checkups.
Because he was in congestive heart failure pre-op and had retained a lot of fluid, he was not in good shape. I remember either his cardio or his surgeon telling him pre-op quite blumtly that he wasn't sure my FIL would make it through surgery, that he really needed a heart transplant.
But -- he did make it through surgery and he lived another 5 years without any further cardiac problems. (He died of cancer in August 1994, again because he avoided doctors and therefore never had a colonoscopy.) He was a widower and because he was put on Coumadin post-op to prevent clots, he was at a nursing home near us for about 6 weeks after leaving the hospital. Back then, I think, the only way to assess anticoagulation therapy was for prothrombin tests via lab draws. I'm not sure the World Health Organization had gotten the INR test instituted worldwide at that time. So, his doctors wanted him to stay in Fort Worth while he was on Coumadin. I'm sure he also had some type of rehab during that time, but I don't remember his going to a rehab facility.

Tired all the time? Heavens -- your dad **is** symptomatic. I was like that 4 years ago and thought it was "age" creeping up on me, and I was only 52. It fatigued me just to work 8 hours at a desk job. Then I had to go home & cook dinner, do laundry, etc.

Your dad can either adjust his life to his symptoms, or have surgery. Either way it's a gamble, as it is anytime surgery is involved.

He may want to see several surgeons. I've seen cardiovascular practices' websites that list surgeons specialties, and have seen some mention a special interest in geriatric surgery.

 

[amortier]

Thank you all

Thank you all

Just wanted to thank all of you that are responding to our post. All this information will be helpful and we will pass it on to our dad. We are not giving our personal opinions to him as we feel the decision has to be his. And to be honest we are not sure what we feel at this point. He trust his cardiologist very much and asked, "Doc what would you do if you were me?" But of course the Dr. wouldn't advise him that way. My dad belongs to Kaiser an HMO in California. So I am not sure he has the choice of surgeons. I think he would feel that his Dr. reccommended him so he must be good. We will look into that possibility.
Thanks again and looking forward to reading any more information that you all can give.