SteinBizzle
Member
Hola! I've been lurking for a while, figured I'd introduce myself.
I'm a 51yo man, 6' (1.8m) @225 pounds with a history of mild, nuisance issues. I was diagnosed in the 90's with Sinus Bradycardia & AV Nodal Re-Entrant Tachycardia (bpm is normally around 45-55 with the occasional spike to ~210-220 for roughly 10-15 seconds). It's a nuisance but totally manageable. Fast-forward 20 years to when I had a series of dizzy spells and my girlfriend (at the time) just happened to be a nurse in a cardiology clinic who recommended that I see a doc there, where I was ultimately diagnosed with a TAA at 4.9cm (circa 2012). Needless to say, I was still fully able to run in dozens of 5k & 10k's over the last decade up until 2020.
The TAA has only grown 2mm in the last 9 years to 5.1cm...but now the dang root is huge and blowing my aortic-valve out of shape. I have a tri-cuspid aortic valve but one of the cusps appears to be damaged. Regurgitation is severe, causing cardiomegaly but the regurgitation is re-entering at a weird angle that is blowing sideways across and through my mitral valve. I became symptomatic in 2020, getting winded pretty easily, having trouble tying my shoes, pains and aches (all of the usual early signs). My Cardiologist did all of the tests/imaging then sent me to meet with a surgeon at Stanford and another in San Diego who both gave the same advice of replacing the aorta and the aortic valve. Date is set for June 2nd (2 weeks from today). Also, I put that cardiac girlfriend on lockdown and made her my wife. Now I'm looking forward to beating her in a 5k, which I have never been able to do.
I'm a 51yo man, 6' (1.8m) @225 pounds with a history of mild, nuisance issues. I was diagnosed in the 90's with Sinus Bradycardia & AV Nodal Re-Entrant Tachycardia (bpm is normally around 45-55 with the occasional spike to ~210-220 for roughly 10-15 seconds). It's a nuisance but totally manageable. Fast-forward 20 years to when I had a series of dizzy spells and my girlfriend (at the time) just happened to be a nurse in a cardiology clinic who recommended that I see a doc there, where I was ultimately diagnosed with a TAA at 4.9cm (circa 2012). Needless to say, I was still fully able to run in dozens of 5k & 10k's over the last decade up until 2020.
The TAA has only grown 2mm in the last 9 years to 5.1cm...but now the dang root is huge and blowing my aortic-valve out of shape. I have a tri-cuspid aortic valve but one of the cusps appears to be damaged. Regurgitation is severe, causing cardiomegaly but the regurgitation is re-entering at a weird angle that is blowing sideways across and through my mitral valve. I became symptomatic in 2020, getting winded pretty easily, having trouble tying my shoes, pains and aches (all of the usual early signs). My Cardiologist did all of the tests/imaging then sent me to meet with a surgeon at Stanford and another in San Diego who both gave the same advice of replacing the aorta and the aortic valve. Date is set for June 2nd (2 weeks from today). Also, I put that cardiac girlfriend on lockdown and made her my wife. Now I'm looking forward to beating her in a 5k, which I have never been able to do.
