Adrienne
Well-known member
Bina, was your surgeon Dr. de Varennes? Pegasus mentioned that her husband had the Chief of Surgery of the Royal Victoria Hospital, and I think she mentioned that name. She was very impressed with him.
Mechanical vs my own
- Thread starter gdfd
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Susan BAV
Hi gdfd -
Well, there were a few posts here that seemed to willfully misunderstand another post (which made sense to me) but aside from that, if I were you I'd like to know that my surgeon has had lots of personal success with what he is proposing.
There still seems to be so much they are learning about bicuspids and possible connective tissue disorder and varying degrees of such, and perhaps I don't know what I'm talking about here, but if a bad valve causes an aneurysm once, doesn't it seem possible that it could happen again somewhere else within the possibly thin connective tissue if the same bad valve is left in there, assuming the bad valve actually caused the aneurysm?
Regarding valve replacement, there are also different thoughts/opinions about whether the chicken or the egg came first, so to speak, in regard to bicuspids and aneurysms and their relationship to each other. I know that I've read that aneurysms don't heal themselves but if the incorrect pressures are halted through a valve, doesn't it seem possible that the surrounding tissues could be in a more stable condition? I don't know. And I think aneurysms, such as what you are describing should be addressed. But I keep wondering if there is much more to all of this than is currently known and my comments are in regard to brainstorming about the possible valve replacement.
But nobody here would want to see you or your loved ones go through what Ross or Brian, or their families, went through.
To thicken the plot, if you do have the valve replaced, are you certain the Carbomedic is the one you and your surgeon want?
Keep asking questions and best wishes to you as you make this decision. Take care.
Well, there were a few posts here that seemed to willfully misunderstand another post (which made sense to me) but aside from that, if I were you I'd like to know that my surgeon has had lots of personal success with what he is proposing.
There still seems to be so much they are learning about bicuspids and possible connective tissue disorder and varying degrees of such, and perhaps I don't know what I'm talking about here, but if a bad valve causes an aneurysm once, doesn't it seem possible that it could happen again somewhere else within the possibly thin connective tissue if the same bad valve is left in there, assuming the bad valve actually caused the aneurysm?
Regarding valve replacement, there are also different thoughts/opinions about whether the chicken or the egg came first, so to speak, in regard to bicuspids and aneurysms and their relationship to each other. I know that I've read that aneurysms don't heal themselves but if the incorrect pressures are halted through a valve, doesn't it seem possible that the surrounding tissues could be in a more stable condition? I don't know. And I think aneurysms, such as what you are describing should be addressed. But I keep wondering if there is much more to all of this than is currently known and my comments are in regard to brainstorming about the possible valve replacement.
But nobody here would want to see you or your loved ones go through what Ross or Brian, or their families, went through.
To thicken the plot, if you do have the valve replaced, are you certain the Carbomedic is the one you and your surgeon want?
Keep asking questions and best wishes to you as you make this decision. Take care.
Yes, I had Dr. de Varennes.....when I met him I was also impressed: by his confidence, ability to discuss, attention to details, and long history at the hospital. That was enough for me to put my life in his hands.Adrienne said:
sue943
Well-known member
I had an aortic valve replaced before it needed it, it was 3/5 so could have waited but since my surgeon was in there doing the mitral valve and knowing the aortic would need replacing at some stage he took the decision to replace them both at the same time in the hopes of avoiding a second OHS. I am happy with that decision.
S
ScottInFlorida
My Choice
My Choice
I chose to keep my own for awhile longer. My aneurysm was > 5 cm and I was having some symptoms (I could feel the aneurysm pressing against my airways - very uncomfortable - like something stuck deep in my throat all the time and I would nearly pass out every now and then). I did my research here and elsewhere and decided there was no point in waiting to fix the aneurysm. I wavered a lot on choosing a valve. My primary care doctor, before we found out about the aneurysm, and later my surgeon and cardiologist all gave a timeframe of 6 to 16 years before needing a valve replacement.
Before surgery - at first, I was 100% going to get an ON-X valve. I know I would not be faithful with the meds so it seemed the most forgiving. Later, I decided the tissue valves might last > 20 years and if I last to 60 - 70 there should be better alternatives. So going into surgery, if I had to replace the valve, then it was to be tissue. The surgeon decided my valve should last awhile longer so I still have my natural valve.
Logically, my choice to keep my valve is the same as getting a tissue valve - both require a future operation at some uncertain future date (hopefully > 10 years). There is a risk with a tissue valve that it would need a reoperation sooner than expected or require coumadin; but, keeping my own valve is not without risks. So I assumed those 2 considerations cancelled each other.
A variable that I did not consider before surgery was the recovery from surgery. I have had many of the usual strange symptoms (night sweats, unusual heartbeats, difficulty concentrating, depression, etc.) that are described by people on this website. Surgery is a very unpleasant experience.
I don't have any advice, I can only share how I reached my decision. Many of the variables in making these decisions are weighted differently by different people (pain of surgery, inconvenience of daily medicine, expected lifestyle after surgery, finances, are children a concern, etc) so I fully expect that my decision would not sit well with someone else. My background is in hard science and math so that was how I approached my decision - list out the various scenarios and options and try to weight them. But in the end, there are few hard facts in medicine (surgery may be a piece of cake for you or it might be a living hell) and many unknowns.
I do not regret my decision - 7 months after surgery I am feeling mostly normal again. But, the only way to know if it was truly a good decision is to wait and see the outcome!
Good luck with your decision!
My Choice
I chose to keep my own for awhile longer. My aneurysm was > 5 cm and I was having some symptoms (I could feel the aneurysm pressing against my airways - very uncomfortable - like something stuck deep in my throat all the time and I would nearly pass out every now and then). I did my research here and elsewhere and decided there was no point in waiting to fix the aneurysm. I wavered a lot on choosing a valve. My primary care doctor, before we found out about the aneurysm, and later my surgeon and cardiologist all gave a timeframe of 6 to 16 years before needing a valve replacement.
Before surgery - at first, I was 100% going to get an ON-X valve. I know I would not be faithful with the meds so it seemed the most forgiving. Later, I decided the tissue valves might last > 20 years and if I last to 60 - 70 there should be better alternatives. So going into surgery, if I had to replace the valve, then it was to be tissue. The surgeon decided my valve should last awhile longer so I still have my natural valve.
Logically, my choice to keep my valve is the same as getting a tissue valve - both require a future operation at some uncertain future date (hopefully > 10 years). There is a risk with a tissue valve that it would need a reoperation sooner than expected or require coumadin; but, keeping my own valve is not without risks. So I assumed those 2 considerations cancelled each other.
A variable that I did not consider before surgery was the recovery from surgery. I have had many of the usual strange symptoms (night sweats, unusual heartbeats, difficulty concentrating, depression, etc.) that are described by people on this website. Surgery is a very unpleasant experience.
I don't have any advice, I can only share how I reached my decision. Many of the variables in making these decisions are weighted differently by different people (pain of surgery, inconvenience of daily medicine, expected lifestyle after surgery, finances, are children a concern, etc) so I fully expect that my decision would not sit well with someone else. My background is in hard science and math so that was how I approached my decision - list out the various scenarios and options and try to weight them. But in the end, there are few hard facts in medicine (surgery may be a piece of cake for you or it might be a living hell) and many unknowns.
I do not regret my decision - 7 months after surgery I am feeling mostly normal again. But, the only way to know if it was truly a good decision is to wait and see the outcome!
Good luck with your decision!
gdfd
Member
Hello all,
I agree that having the surgery as fast as possible is the best idea. As I said I will have mine in October this year.
As many of you suggested is always wise to have a plan B if the plan A is to keep in place the original valve. My surgeon said that, if I ask him to consider the plan A, he will take a decision only during the surgery if he will find that my valve is good enough to last for at least 10 or 15 years. Unlike ScottInFlorida, who was provided with an estimated “timeframe of 6 to 16 years before needing a valve replacement”, I wasn’t able until now to have an estimate of the original valve lifespan. The surgeon seemed reluctant to the plan A because, he said, I will need a second surgery in the future and it’s impossible to know how fast this will be.
I agree that having the surgery as fast as possible is the best idea. As I said I will have mine in October this year.
As many of you suggested is always wise to have a plan B if the plan A is to keep in place the original valve. My surgeon said that, if I ask him to consider the plan A, he will take a decision only during the surgery if he will find that my valve is good enough to last for at least 10 or 15 years. Unlike ScottInFlorida, who was provided with an estimated “timeframe of 6 to 16 years before needing a valve replacement”, I wasn’t able until now to have an estimate of the original valve lifespan. The surgeon seemed reluctant to the plan A because, he said, I will need a second surgery in the future and it’s impossible to know how fast this will be.
