Just found out yesterday

[Super_Secret_Sloth26]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this thread. I'm a 25 year old male that previously had open heart surgery at 4 years old to fix a hole in a valve that was causing back flow and resulted in inefficient blood flow. I'm not sure if that falls into the category of BAV?

Anyways yesterday I was at my annual checkup and was finally transferred from the pediatric to the adult cardiology group. EKG was run as well as an echo. EKG was slightly abnormal but consistent with 'my normal' for the past 21 years.

My ascending aorta was called 'generous' as seen in my echo at ~4.0cm. They said it seemed slightly larger than past echos and while they emphasized it was not of immediate concern, wanted to schedule an MRI to better accurately measure the diameter along with checking the residual back flow from my surgery that they consider to be 'trivial or mild' from my echo results.

I've contacted my pediatric cardiologists office and requested he call me back after reviewing the echo so he can better tell me if this is an ongoing waiting condition or something that seems to be worsening.

At first googling I was really scared of the mortality numbers I was seeing but really glad I stumbled upon this forum.

I don't want to wait around to see if this gets worse, I want to be proactive. So my questions are: have you guys cut out caffeine completely? I normally have one energy drink a day at around 142 MG and that's it. I also vape at 3mg but am going to switch to 0 as I know it's a vasoconstricter. Can I still lift weights? They told me don't become a body builder but is slow gradual non-overly strenuous lifting okay? I've also been getting into rock climbing, should I cut that out? And can I still help my gf move when the time comes?

My BP is pretty good at 96/74 yesterday when I had it checked.

All these questions I plan on asking my cardiologist when he calls me back but I am inpatient and quite the worrier.

Thanks you guys in advance and it's nice to meet you all =]

 

[pellicle]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this thread. I'm a 25 year old male that previously had open heart surgery at 4 years old to fix a hole in a valve that was causing back flow and resulted in inefficient blood flow. I'm not sure if that falls into the category of BAV?

me neither ... but in some ways its unimportant.

Anyways yesterday I was at my annual checkup and was finally transferred from the pediatric to the adult cardiology group. EKG was run as well as an echo. EKG was slightly abnormal but consistent with 'my normal' for the past 21 years.

My ascending aorta was called 'generous' as seen in my echo at ~4.0cm. They said it seemed slightly larger than past echos and while they emphasized it was not of immediate concern, wanted to schedule an MRI to better accurately measure the diameter along with checking the residual back flow from my surgery that they consider to be 'trivial or mild' from my echo results.

could be that it stays that way for a long time ... to be honest the longer you can avoid surgery the better (given your relatively healthy right now) because if nothing else it gives technology time to move on and mature.

At first googling I was really scared of the mortality numbers I was seeing but really glad I stumbled upon this forum.

a common mistake ... if you looked at the figures of car accidents you'd only ever fly

I don't want to wait around to see if this gets worse, I want to be proactive.

but you should ... and most importantly you should take the medical advice and consider it very carefully ...

So my questions are: have you guys cut out caffeine completely?

you've got to be kidding me!! What lame arse idiot clickbait sites have you been reading? Man I don't wake up right without my first double shot espresso (drinking now) and I have between 2 and 5 more single shots during the day.

I totally recommend you stop reading the sites you're reading and ask in here ...

I also vape at 3mg but am going to

... give it up as a filthy habit with no returns and just costs to your wallet and your health? Excellent I'm glad to hear that I love it when people "want to be in control of their lives" but allow a simple chemical to rule them. Addiction to nicotine should be fought against on that principle alone. Go for a natural high.

Can I still lift weights? They told me don't become a body builder but is slow gradual non-overly strenuous lifting okay?

You can, but try to be rational and realistic about that ... don't try to compete and don't try to push to the top of your category. Actually learn heaps (not learn from ******** sites) about the physiology of weight lifting and you will improve strength and health.

Lastly, something quick about me: I had my first OHS at about 9 to "split the cusp" that didn't split, I had my 2nd OHS at 28 to replace the valve with a homograft (a piece of someone else) and my last one at 48 (over 4 years ago) to have an aortic aneurysm repair and to have my valve (which was also failing) replaced with a mechanical.

I've lived my life, ridden motorbikes all my life, cycled, rock climbed (since about 17) hiked and lived around the world. The limitations you place on yourself are usually more restrictive than you can do with thoughtful approach. The last 10 years I've really enjoyed cross country skiing ... its fantastic for fitness and you can set your own pace. That's the key. Set your own pace, find your own limits.


The aneurysm may indeed have been growing slowly and steadilly for most of my last 20 years who can tell. That is why I said "do not be pro active" with this amount of data.

Best Wishes.

 

[cldlhd]

No caffeine? The horror!

 

[pellicle]

No caffeine? The horror!

I *know* right ... like that's just perverted ... its like they'd say "no sex either" .... My answer to any suggestion like that would have been WTF?

Frequently Doctors see all their patients the same way ... not seeming to notice each is different. For instance a friend of mine had his doctor keep calling him the wrong name ... then he asked to see the file and found the guy was reading the file of someone else ... luckilly it was shoulder surgery not heart surgery ... but I think it often goes like this:

I'm a bad copy checker ... should have been "and I know you can ..."

Medical professionals are so used to their role of God for working hours they sometimes forget they aren't. Like my cousin, she's taught year 3 ~ 5 for the last 15 years and sometimes when she's explaining something to me I swear she thinks I'm one of her students ....

 

[Super_Secret_Sloth26]

Lol thanks for your reply. I actually talked to my cardiologist this after noon and I guess I have been enlarged since I hit puberty (dirty pun unintended). It's been around 4.2cm and this year it measured 4.3. She also said this is based on echo so there is room for error, it potentially could be stagnant.

She also essentially confirmed what you said, that I have no lifting restrictions as long as I don't try to be a professional body builder or mover. And just to avoid vaslvega maneuvers when I can. Essentially just don't be dumb lifting heavy stuff. Same with caffeine, as long as I don't overdo it and continue to keep my BP down I won't do any harm to myself.

Sorry I guess when I said proactive I meant lifestyle changes I can take on now, nicotine being the first to go.

Overall it seems that I've been pretty consistently around 4.2 cm my whole adult life, and because I was too young to remember when they first noticed, my pediatric cardiologist never mentioned it annually. The new adult cardiologists are just being thorough and made me aware of something that had always been there.

But hey, if this reminder of my condition is what I needed to get off the sauce (nicotine) and be remotivated to get into better shape then I'm happy it came up.

Thanks again for your response Pellicle

 

[cldlhd]

I *know* right ... like that's just perverted ... its like they'd say "no sex either" .... My answer to any suggestion like that would have been WTF?

Frequently Doctors see all their patients the same way ... not seeming to notice each is different. For instance a friend of mine had his doctor keep calling him the wrong name ... then he asked to see the file and found the guy was reading the file of someone else ... luckilly it was shoulder surgery not heart surgery ... but I think it often goes like this:

Sometimes I wonder if the doc told my wife no sex.... Tip your waitresses,

 

[pellicle]

...
Sorry I guess when I said proactive I meant lifestyle changes I can take on now, nicotine being the first to go.
..
But hey, if this reminder of my condition is what I needed to get off the sauce (nicotine) and be remotivated to get into better shape then I'm happy it came up.

Yes! Great news ... that'll be one of the biggest positive health impacts you can make! BTW I did a biochem degree and always swore that I was a social smoker not an addicted one. I usually smoked about a packet a week (packet of 20) ... I always said when they went over $2 a packet I was going to drop them. It did and I did.

spend the money on travel mate

Lapland in Sweden

great wall
]

Travel and enrich your life!

You only get one ;-)

 

[pellicle]

Anyway, glad you're feeling better ... Ohh and yes, I'm on warfarin with a mechanical valve

does it hold me back? No

I self test wherever I travel and self administer my dose

So a mechanical valve has meant my best shot at freedom

 

[pellicle]

Sometimes I wonder if the doc told my wife no sex.... Tip your waitresses,

have you forgotten to tip her?

Tipping suggestion:

Birthdays and Anniversaries mate

;-)

 

[epstns]

You can't really be a Sloth if you want to do all that, can you?

You may not have a bicuspid valve, but I used to. I didn't even find out that mine was a BAV until I was in my early 50's. No symptoms, no reason to even be evaluated. Then the new doc asked "How long have you had that heart murmur?" The rest of my journey, for about the last 14 years, is in various places on this site.

For all of my "pre-diagnosis" life, I was your typical guy - I ran, lifted weights, drove a race car, worked insane long hours, traveled, raised a family, the whole deal. Then came the diagnosis. After that. . . ONLY MINOR CHANGES! Yes, I did switch from lifting moderate/heavy weights (for my size, anyway), to light weights at high reps. But that's about it, other than my regular cardio check-ups.

I won't bore you with the whole story, but eventually I got tired of being tired, so my cardio and I decided it was time to replace the valve. We also found that I needed a single bypass. Into the hospital I went. I came out 9 days later (complications) with a new valve, a bypass and also a pacemaker (I did mention complications, didn't I?) It took a while to heal completely, but now about 5 1/2 years after the surgery, what has changed? NOT MUCH! I'm still working insane hours (for a guy who is 68), in the gym 5 days a week, exercising, lifting my light weights. . . you get the picture, don't you? These things almost always are repairable. Your life is still your life. Don't waste a minute now worrying about what your life won't be as this progresses or requires surgery. Live life - we only get one try at it, so make it good.