Well, gang, the experience yesterday in the Cath Lab was a very good one. Dr Smith came by to tell me before hand that I would be awake during the Cath because he prefers patients capable of participating in .the adventure. My participation mostly extended to taking deep breaths and holding them but he was very willing to answer my questions when i felt odd sensations.
He looked at both sides of my heart during the afternoon and was very careful to warn me when the position of the probe was about to initiate odd heartbeats which it did a number of times. There was no pain involved only the occasional mild discomfort. When he finished, his technician placed a protein glue plug to prevent bleeding and I had to wait five hours before I could leave the hospital.
My Cardiologist is cautious with the results of echocardiograms which he believes often over estimate the severity of problems. This has kept me in an ambiguous position for a while asking "Is it time?" The results, yesterday, were not ambiguous. The pressure gradient across the valve is 57 mmhg and the area of the valve has dropped from 1.4 cm2 nine months ago to .7 cm2. For those of you less familiar, the normal expectation is that the area of a stenotic aortic valve would be expected to degrade at the rate of .1 - .2 cm2 a year not .7 cm2 in 9 months. So things are clear at last. When I speak with my surgeon in two weeks, he is not going to tell me that it's too soon for surgery. Incidentally, the results of the echocardiogram from one month ago matched pretty well with the results from yesterday.
03 Jul, 09 Echo: 61 mmhg & .74 cm2
14 Aug, 09 Cath: 57 mmhg & .7 cm2
So I will be keeping that appointment with my surgeon on 27 Aug. I feel very relieved to no longer have to worry about whether it truly is time yet. I slept better last night than I have in weeks. Dr Smith recommended surgery within the next 8 weeks. I am shooting for 6 weeks around the 21st of September.
No one I spoke with at Oklahoma Heart Institute yesterday had ever heard of this support group. When I go back in a few weeks for surgery, I am going to take some cards to pass around with the website address and maybe a comment or two about my experiences with you all. More people need to come here. Thanks, again everyone.
He looked at both sides of my heart during the afternoon and was very careful to warn me when the position of the probe was about to initiate odd heartbeats which it did a number of times. There was no pain involved only the occasional mild discomfort. When he finished, his technician placed a protein glue plug to prevent bleeding and I had to wait five hours before I could leave the hospital.
My Cardiologist is cautious with the results of echocardiograms which he believes often over estimate the severity of problems. This has kept me in an ambiguous position for a while asking "Is it time?" The results, yesterday, were not ambiguous. The pressure gradient across the valve is 57 mmhg and the area of the valve has dropped from 1.4 cm2 nine months ago to .7 cm2. For those of you less familiar, the normal expectation is that the area of a stenotic aortic valve would be expected to degrade at the rate of .1 - .2 cm2 a year not .7 cm2 in 9 months. So things are clear at last. When I speak with my surgeon in two weeks, he is not going to tell me that it's too soon for surgery. Incidentally, the results of the echocardiogram from one month ago matched pretty well with the results from yesterday.
03 Jul, 09 Echo: 61 mmhg & .74 cm2
14 Aug, 09 Cath: 57 mmhg & .7 cm2
So I will be keeping that appointment with my surgeon on 27 Aug. I feel very relieved to no longer have to worry about whether it truly is time yet. I slept better last night than I have in weeks. Dr Smith recommended surgery within the next 8 weeks. I am shooting for 6 weeks around the 21st of September.
No one I spoke with at Oklahoma Heart Institute yesterday had ever heard of this support group. When I go back in a few weeks for surgery, I am going to take some cards to pass around with the website address and maybe a comment or two about my experiences with you all. More people need to come here. Thanks, again everyone.
