J
jacksonmn
i had my second surgery on 6/9/2003.
i had my first surgery in 1991 when i was 15 in bergamo, italy.
at that time, my aortic valve was replaced and my mitral valve repaired. although it was a mechanical valve, i was only on coumadin for 1 yr after which i went off it for the next 11 yrs.
the doctors told me that i would probably need another surgery when i was 50 so all throughout the 90s i did not pay attention to
the heart and pretty much did what other teens my age did- i drank and smoked.
i started having the same symptoms i had b4 my first operation in 2000 but since i had been told that i'd not need another surgery till 50, i did not associate my problems with heart disease.
the problems got progressively worse and i'd be out of breath after walking half a mile, sometimes even passing out.
i hated hospitals cos as a kid i was always in hospital for one thing or another so i never went for check-ups. i thought the problems were due to my smoking so i tried to cut it down from 2 to 1 pack a day.
however, during summer last yr i was walking home one night when i got short of breath and started coughing up blood.
my wife rushed me to the ER at the local hospital where they assumed first that i had pneumonia, then TB and/or something other. they put me in isolation and started treating me for TB with antibiotics. a CT scan, an EKG and an echocardiogram were done but for some reason they never reached a diagnosis. suffice it to say i discharged myself and took the data that had been collected to a nurse i knew who took it to a doctor who made the diagnosis that i had pulmonary hypertension. i read all i could abt pulmonary hypertension and assumed it was primary and therefore no heart problems. my bleeding episode was over and i was walking a little more.
on 5/11 this year my wife and i went to her birthday celebration and i exerted myself just a bit over my limit and the shortness of breath and bleeding started. as b4, i couldnt walk at all (not even 2-3 steps) without getting a big spasm of blood coughing. for the next week i waited for this to stop and heal but it got worse. finally i broke down and let my wife drive me to the ER at Detroit Medical Center. as b4 they checked for the perfunctory pneumonia/TB and ruled that out soon. they redid my CT, xrays, EKG and echocardiogram and pretty soon the cardiologist knew what was wrong. i had severe pulmonary hypertension caused by mitral regurgitation. basically my lung pressures were 3-4 times normal (therefore at times causing blood vessels in the lungs to burst and let blood out).
the cardiologist told me i was extremely sick and needed surgery pretty soon. he moved me to ICU for close monitoring and put me on lasix and lopressor. during this time i was having fevers of 101-102 everyday and although they cultured my blood everyday, results were always negative. it was assumed i had bacterial endocarditis so i was put on a ****tail of antibiotics. he consulted with the surgeons and their opinions were divided. one wanted to operate in 2 days and the other wanted to wait till something could be done abt my pulmonary pressures and endocarditis. since they couldnt agree my cardiologist decided to transfer me to another hospital- University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor.
this time the doctors had the equipment and the experience to perform the surgery but they couldnt do it because of the fever. after a week we finally figured why i had the fever - yeast infection in the mouth. i was aggressively treated for it over the week as the cardiologists looked for a surgeon willing to perform the surgery. finally the head of the cardiac surgery, dr. richard prager, agreed to do the surgery. he is one of the best doctors i have ever encountered. he explained everything to us and answered all our questions in plain terms. however, he did not mince words - my chances of coming out of surgery alive were 50/50 due to the advanced stage of the condition - severely damaged lungs and blood vessels and pulmonary hypertension.
on the monday of 6/9 they washed, shaved and wheeled me into OR. i have to say this - i did not really expect or want to come out at all and was relieved that it was gonna be a silent death. this is because the doctor expected to find endocarditis and was gonna use tissue valves, which meant i'd need a third surgery in 12-15 yrs and i was not ready for that. i said goodbye to my wife, prayed and went to sleep soon after the sedatives were administered.
i woke up 6days later with the all-familiar tubes which were taken out as soon as they could ascertain that i could breath on my own. i laughed so hard (not visibly of course cos of the general pain) cos i thought it was a big joke. i had fully expected to be on the other side but here i was...yet again. lucky me - there had been no endocarditis and they had used mechanical valves (i'll find out the model on monday). they had replaced the aortic and mitral valves and repaired the tricuspid valve.
i stayed in ICU for the next 4 days and then was moved to the floor rooms. i stayed there longer than usual cos i was taking longer to regain lung capacity and strength and also because i had liver complications.
i came home on 6/24 and i have gotten a lot better. except for the pain in the incision and another bit of pain in my right lung i feel ok. i walk everyday and i savor it cos i dont get out of breath at all. its only short walks but i now intend to walk more.
my wife has been the one person who has kept me going. she visited me at the hospital 1hr away from home every 2 days. a lot of times she had to sleep on the couches over there. its been a strain on her..please pray for her so she can be strong enough to endure this imposition i put on her.
sorry, its a long story. if u reached this far...thank u for hearing me.
i had my first surgery in 1991 when i was 15 in bergamo, italy.
at that time, my aortic valve was replaced and my mitral valve repaired. although it was a mechanical valve, i was only on coumadin for 1 yr after which i went off it for the next 11 yrs.
the doctors told me that i would probably need another surgery when i was 50 so all throughout the 90s i did not pay attention to
the heart and pretty much did what other teens my age did- i drank and smoked.
i started having the same symptoms i had b4 my first operation in 2000 but since i had been told that i'd not need another surgery till 50, i did not associate my problems with heart disease.
the problems got progressively worse and i'd be out of breath after walking half a mile, sometimes even passing out.
i hated hospitals cos as a kid i was always in hospital for one thing or another so i never went for check-ups. i thought the problems were due to my smoking so i tried to cut it down from 2 to 1 pack a day.
however, during summer last yr i was walking home one night when i got short of breath and started coughing up blood.
my wife rushed me to the ER at the local hospital where they assumed first that i had pneumonia, then TB and/or something other. they put me in isolation and started treating me for TB with antibiotics. a CT scan, an EKG and an echocardiogram were done but for some reason they never reached a diagnosis. suffice it to say i discharged myself and took the data that had been collected to a nurse i knew who took it to a doctor who made the diagnosis that i had pulmonary hypertension. i read all i could abt pulmonary hypertension and assumed it was primary and therefore no heart problems. my bleeding episode was over and i was walking a little more.
on 5/11 this year my wife and i went to her birthday celebration and i exerted myself just a bit over my limit and the shortness of breath and bleeding started. as b4, i couldnt walk at all (not even 2-3 steps) without getting a big spasm of blood coughing. for the next week i waited for this to stop and heal but it got worse. finally i broke down and let my wife drive me to the ER at Detroit Medical Center. as b4 they checked for the perfunctory pneumonia/TB and ruled that out soon. they redid my CT, xrays, EKG and echocardiogram and pretty soon the cardiologist knew what was wrong. i had severe pulmonary hypertension caused by mitral regurgitation. basically my lung pressures were 3-4 times normal (therefore at times causing blood vessels in the lungs to burst and let blood out).
the cardiologist told me i was extremely sick and needed surgery pretty soon. he moved me to ICU for close monitoring and put me on lasix and lopressor. during this time i was having fevers of 101-102 everyday and although they cultured my blood everyday, results were always negative. it was assumed i had bacterial endocarditis so i was put on a ****tail of antibiotics. he consulted with the surgeons and their opinions were divided. one wanted to operate in 2 days and the other wanted to wait till something could be done abt my pulmonary pressures and endocarditis. since they couldnt agree my cardiologist decided to transfer me to another hospital- University of Michigan Hospital, Ann Arbor.
this time the doctors had the equipment and the experience to perform the surgery but they couldnt do it because of the fever. after a week we finally figured why i had the fever - yeast infection in the mouth. i was aggressively treated for it over the week as the cardiologists looked for a surgeon willing to perform the surgery. finally the head of the cardiac surgery, dr. richard prager, agreed to do the surgery. he is one of the best doctors i have ever encountered. he explained everything to us and answered all our questions in plain terms. however, he did not mince words - my chances of coming out of surgery alive were 50/50 due to the advanced stage of the condition - severely damaged lungs and blood vessels and pulmonary hypertension.
on the monday of 6/9 they washed, shaved and wheeled me into OR. i have to say this - i did not really expect or want to come out at all and was relieved that it was gonna be a silent death. this is because the doctor expected to find endocarditis and was gonna use tissue valves, which meant i'd need a third surgery in 12-15 yrs and i was not ready for that. i said goodbye to my wife, prayed and went to sleep soon after the sedatives were administered.
i woke up 6days later with the all-familiar tubes which were taken out as soon as they could ascertain that i could breath on my own. i laughed so hard (not visibly of course cos of the general pain) cos i thought it was a big joke. i had fully expected to be on the other side but here i was...yet again. lucky me - there had been no endocarditis and they had used mechanical valves (i'll find out the model on monday). they had replaced the aortic and mitral valves and repaired the tricuspid valve.
i stayed in ICU for the next 4 days and then was moved to the floor rooms. i stayed there longer than usual cos i was taking longer to regain lung capacity and strength and also because i had liver complications.
i came home on 6/24 and i have gotten a lot better. except for the pain in the incision and another bit of pain in my right lung i feel ok. i walk everyday and i savor it cos i dont get out of breath at all. its only short walks but i now intend to walk more.
my wife has been the one person who has kept me going. she visited me at the hospital 1hr away from home every 2 days. a lot of times she had to sleep on the couches over there. its been a strain on her..please pray for her so she can be strong enough to endure this imposition i put on her.
sorry, its a long story. if u reached this far...thank u for hearing me.
