The Milkman
Member
A bit belated but hi everyone.
I am 10 weeks post surgery and have been viewing the forum daily since my operation.
A little history.
In February of 2008 - I went to the doctors because I had 2 speech disturbances (couldn't say the words my brain was thinking) - at the same time I had what I still believe to be cluster headaches. My local doctor referred me to a 'stroke' specialist - who said that he suspected Tia's which was not unusual for someone with my heart condition - you guessed it - I said what heart condition?
I then had numerous routine tests - Bloods, MRI (head only), Carotid Doppler Scan, ECG, Echocardiograph & xrays - the stroke specialist then referred me to a cardiologist. From the echo the cardiologist said that my pumping efficiency was only 54% (normal 75%) - I had a mild leaking Aortic valve and a 5.2cm dilated Aorta.
Fast forward to May 2008 and a CT scan was performed confirming the aortic dilation @ 5.1cm. After a discussion on the 5.1cm/5.2cm dilation the cardiologist said that he wanted to talk about the speech disturbances that I had in January and the suspected TIA?s which he then thought I had suffered.
In his opinion the TIA?s might have been caused by his raised suspicion that I have a hole in the heart (a PFO) and he wanted to do a trans-oesophageal echo test (down the throat!)
On the 10th of July I had my T.O.E. test ? yuk ? but not as bad as I was anticipating! No P.F.O. present, aneurysm unchanged at 5.1cm. However, the T.O.E showed a clear picture that the valve was actually Bicuspid (at least I then knew what probably had caused the aneurysm)
After some 6 months fighting with my local health authority ( I will explain more at a later date ), I eventually had my operation done on the 12th of January by Mr Olaf Wendler (not only a great surgeon - but a great man also) at the Kings College Hospital in London (some 300 miles away ) under the NHS.
I have had a St. Jude mechanical valve and conduit.
I am really doing great - but only because all my worries and fears that I have had have been calmed by all the answers on this forum - I feel as though I know most of you as I follow your posts day by day.
I hope to contribute more to this forum in the future - but for now I would just like to say a big thank you to you all!
Andy
I am 10 weeks post surgery and have been viewing the forum daily since my operation.
A little history.
In February of 2008 - I went to the doctors because I had 2 speech disturbances (couldn't say the words my brain was thinking) - at the same time I had what I still believe to be cluster headaches. My local doctor referred me to a 'stroke' specialist - who said that he suspected Tia's which was not unusual for someone with my heart condition - you guessed it - I said what heart condition?
I then had numerous routine tests - Bloods, MRI (head only), Carotid Doppler Scan, ECG, Echocardiograph & xrays - the stroke specialist then referred me to a cardiologist. From the echo the cardiologist said that my pumping efficiency was only 54% (normal 75%) - I had a mild leaking Aortic valve and a 5.2cm dilated Aorta.
Fast forward to May 2008 and a CT scan was performed confirming the aortic dilation @ 5.1cm. After a discussion on the 5.1cm/5.2cm dilation the cardiologist said that he wanted to talk about the speech disturbances that I had in January and the suspected TIA?s which he then thought I had suffered.
In his opinion the TIA?s might have been caused by his raised suspicion that I have a hole in the heart (a PFO) and he wanted to do a trans-oesophageal echo test (down the throat!)
On the 10th of July I had my T.O.E. test ? yuk ? but not as bad as I was anticipating! No P.F.O. present, aneurysm unchanged at 5.1cm. However, the T.O.E showed a clear picture that the valve was actually Bicuspid (at least I then knew what probably had caused the aneurysm)
After some 6 months fighting with my local health authority ( I will explain more at a later date ), I eventually had my operation done on the 12th of January by Mr Olaf Wendler (not only a great surgeon - but a great man also) at the Kings College Hospital in London (some 300 miles away ) under the NHS.
I have had a St. Jude mechanical valve and conduit.
I am really doing great - but only because all my worries and fears that I have had have been calmed by all the answers on this forum - I feel as though I know most of you as I follow your posts day by day.
I hope to contribute more to this forum in the future - but for now I would just like to say a big thank you to you all!
Andy
We'll be happy to read your posts.
