Life expectancy

[PathFinder]

age group

age group

I want to ask you something. I come from Bulgaria and my english is not very well. Can anybody tell me what am I - "young" or "young-adult" at age of 24? Thank you!

 

[sue943]

I would classify you as being a young adult - I am British.

 

[PathFinder]

report

report

Thank you all for writing me nice things. But I did the stupid thing to search medical reports in internet and I found this:

http://www2.eur.nl/fgg/medbib/EUR-diss/020529_Takkenberg_H/10.pdf

Don't read it if you don't want to lose your good spirit!

 

[PathFinder]

report

report

If anybody has read that, please discuss it! May be it is not so bad as it seems to be at first sight!

 

[hensylee]

Good morning, Pathfinder. It is early Sunday morning here (7 a.m. in my part of the U.S.) and I doubt many of us are out of bed yet and many will be going to church. We don't have as much participation until Sunday afternoon and then they will be along to discuss this. It may become a very popular discussion. We will both look forward to hearing what the others say.

 

[afraidofsurgery]

Hi Pathfinder,
As my screen name might imply, I was terrified of OHS. That said, with moderate to severe aortic regurgitation from a congenital 'bicuspid-ish valve, I lasted almost 10 years while watching the valve/heart situation carefully under the care of a cardiologist. Also I competed in collegiate gymnastics, and was very active - ran, lifted weights, did a 1/2 triathlon, etc. Also had a baby. Not until the last couple of years before surgery did I start to slow down a bit (which should have clued me in!).

Get the best cardiologist/surgeon team you can find at the best teaching hospital you can get to. As others have said, the surgery is routine to replace the valve and there is a lot of life after finding out about your condition.

Patty

 

[afraidofsurgery]

total nonsense

total nonsense

Thank you all for writing me nice things. But I did the stupid thing to search medical reports in internet and I found this:

http://www2.eur.nl/fgg/medbib/EUR-diss/020529_Takkenberg_H/10.pdf

Don't read it if you don't want to lose your good spirit!

Before you panic, consider the following:
The article you reference was a thesis dissertation from 2002 using a study of 272 patients over 13 years in Europe. Thesis dissertations are NOT peer-reviewed publications. Also this guy used a fancy statistical modelling method and compared the valve-replacement group to a totally unrelated population (ie, patients not enrolled in the study), so I don't believe his results are meaningful.

I'd suggest limiting your internet searchess for medical studies to www.pubmed.com. All studies listed in PubMed are peer-reviewed studies and you will find better quality data, larger studies, and a better selection of opinions here.

There are definately risks with having OHS and a valve replacement you would not have otherwise (and these need to be managed, but having a valve replacement does not automatically reduce your life expectancy!!! That is total nonsense!

My life expenctancy would be dramatically reduced had I NOT had a valve replacement. I prefer to think of my situation as an opportunity, not a cause for doom and gloom. I've had SO many really great things happen to me as a result of my condition, I have to say I'm blessed and grateful to have it.

Patty

 

[catwoman]

My life expenctancy would be dramatically reduced had I NOT had a valve replacement. I prefer to think of my situation as an opportunity, not a cause for doom and gloom. I've had SO many really great things happen to me as a result of my condition, I have to say I'm blessed and grateful to have it.

Pathfinder:

Patty described it correctly.
My doctor gave me only about 3 months without my surgery. I had my surgery on June 24, 2003 -- 6 months before Christmas Eve. I was very emotional my first Christmas Eve post-op. It's gotten much easier, but I will always celebrate my half-anniversary each Christmas Eve.
Just like the Christmas movie, "IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE!"

 

[Swill]

Welcome Pathfinder -

I was talking with a friend last night, and found out that he had a mechanical valve put in 25 years ago. They told his parents that he would not live past the age of 2, he is in his 50's now, and still going strong.

Earlier this week I had lunch with the father of a friend who had his valve replace 3 weeks ago. I showed him that there is life after a valve replacement. I feel much better since I have had my valve put in 3 1/2 years ago...

Cheers,

Swill

 

[PathFinder]

Bavr

Bavr

Can anybody give an example for bicuspid aortic valve replacement, which is older (20 years or more)? I mean AVR made in the 80's or earlier?

 

[Magic8Ball]

Not sure what you are trying to acheive now.

I think you need to choose the postive outlook rather than the negative outlook or you will spiral into a hole you may not be able to get out of.

I've been told that my valve will outlive me, i'm 37 and have been told 30+ years will not be an issue...so at 67 the rest of lifes little surprises will probably kill me before valve failure..now i can get on with my life or i can spend every day worring about clots, valve failures, valvular strands, further anurysms etc etc i choose to get on with it.

Life is full of uncertainties and i agree that there is nothing guaranteed, i could have a complication and checkout in 5-10 years, hell i may even checkout today but what is certain is that if i hadn't had this done i'd be definately finished within 6 months.

Stats are just that, stats....but the majority of stats take into account heart disease and old patients...i was told to ignore them as general stats don't apply to elective surgery for aysmtomatic 37yr old's, you should be the same.

 

[PathFinder]

regur

regur

Have you had a regurgitation, Magic8ball? Becouse this is the main problem by me. I wanted to know someone, who had a surgery for BAV with regurgitation and his health is still fine after at least 20 years.

 

[MikeHeim]

Pathfinder-
I was also frustrated by the lack of statistics regarding long-term prognosis for valve patient. I was 28 when I was diagnosed and scared to death that I had been given a death sentence. I wasn't afraid of the original surgery (not much, at least), but I was afraid that I was now lumped into the "heart patient" category and that I would be lucky to make it another 30 years - let alone 40-50. Like you, I also found several studies, some that encouraged me, and others that discouraged me. As has been mentioned above, the vast majority of studies are conducted with patients who are in their 60's, which is the age of the majority of heart patients. What has given me the most comfort is when I find studies that show that the life expectancy of valve patients is similar to or the same as the general population.

The other side of the story is that valve surgery is constantly changing and advancing. In some ways, that makes the results of surgeries and valves implanted 20-30 years ago completely irrelevant. I have posted a study on this site a couple times that shows about 85% of Mitral Repairs (my surgery) done in the early to mid-80's holding up 20-25 years later. I think it is reasonable to expect that the surgical techniques have only gotten better and that the 85% from 20 years ago is lower than what the success rate would be present-day. The same should go with all valve surgeries.

 

[PathFinder]

It's ok, but how can I be encouraged with such a statistics?

http://heart.emedtv.com/aortic-valve-replacement/life-expectancy-after-aortic-valve-replacement.html

 

[sue943]

Without the surgery life expectancy is very short, a few years at most, for some even less.

Look at RCB, he had his first AVR in 1960 and is STILL alive today. That must encourage you.

 

[catwoman]

It's ok, but how can I be encouraged with such a statistics?

http://heart.emedtv.com/aortic-valve-replacement/life-expectancy-after-aortic-valve-replacement.html

Pathfinder:
Don't become paralyzed by fear over statistics. Statistics are just numbers, not guaranteed results or outcomes.
We all know people who have beaten odds in their lives -- melanoma, colon cancer, breast cancer, a nearly fatal car crash, a shooting, house fire, etc.

We have many people here on this website who have gotten many years out of mechanical and tissue valves and are still ticking, mooing or oinking away. The more you educate yourself about your particular situation, the better you can help maintain good health and hopefully prolong your life.

I did check out the link above. My questions are where did emedtv come up with those stats? And what are the causes of death per the records?

Educate yourself, but don't paralyze yourself with fear.

 

[SumoRunner]

Statistics be damned. Had I not had my valve replaced my life expectancy at this time would be minus ten years. That is to say I might not have made it another 5 years as it was, now I've had 15 more, 10 of which are purely bonus time.

Let's see what has transpired in my life the last ten years that I might have missed. Older daughter graduated from RPI, got married, worked as a high school physics and chemistry teacher, gave birth to a son and waits for a second to arrive. My older son graduated from Cornell, got married, worked on the Mars Rover -- a thing my boy designed now travels on another planet, how cool is that? -- then he went to Princeton and got a Phd in "rocket science". My second son, was elected captain of his swim team by his peers and MVP of the Volleyball team, graduated from Springfield College and is a just year away from earning his doctorate in Physical Therapy which I'll probably be needing one of these days. And my younger daughter, having studied in Europe and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity on her semester break is soon to graduate from Union College and head on to graduate school herself.

All in just the last ten years. I can't wait for the next ten. Chances are if this had been a generation ago I would have missed all of it, or worse yet, maybe some of it would not have happened had I not been here to support it.

 

[aussiemember]

Pathfinder,

An acquaintance of mine went to the doctor as she was having shortness of breath while playing netball. She was 25 years old, fit and a non smoker. Her diagnosis - lung cancer - she passed away five weeks later. No one has any guarantees of life, no matter what the statistics say. I will need OHS in the next year or so and I too am scared. But I have decided to enjoy each day I have and focus on the now and not the future. Not always easy but I'm getting better at it!!

 

[PathFinder]

stupid stats

stupid stats

The statistics shown in internet must be forbidden! They only can make you count the years and lose your mind in thinking of future. I'm very very thanksful to this site, becouse it showed me, that there is a lot of life after VR - complete and even funny. About all the prognoses, expectancies and statistics - we all have to put them in the past and look in to the real life again. There is what to see for a young boy like me, especialy from the girls at my age

 

[WayneGM]

Glad you've been able to put all the "noise" behind you. Enjoy life one day at a time, and look forward to a bright future.

Cheers,