Greetings to all. My name is Julian. I've had a bicuspid aortic valve since birth with stenosis. My parents told me the doctors said my valve was at 60% of what it should be (whatever that means). They were told not to let me exert myself too much and let them know if I wanted to start any serious sports. From what I can tell at that age I had no symptoms. I had yearly follow ups until I was 12 years old, at that point I got stubborn and stopped going to the doctors, I felt fine and I was tired of the doctor telling me I was a fat kid and should lose weight.
I entered high school and starting smoking cannabis everyday for several years. Got a girlfriend and was with her for several years. In my late teens early 20's started to experiment with methamphetamine. I wasn't addicted but would do it once in a great while. Until about 6 years ago I had a very bad "trip" with it and it put me into serious anxiety and depression for over a year. It was hard to leave the house. Terrible experience wouldn't wish it on anyone.
At this point my heart issue was in back of my mind but I totally thought the problem corrected itself. I didn't understand the severity of the condition. I didn't understand the importance of follow ups. I went on about my life and started to work out at a gym with a friend in 2006. I felt good at the work outs accept for when we would do squats. For some reason those just made me feel strange after, can't explain it. I started to think about my heart again. The strange feeling would just go away after a couple of hours so who cares right?
Eventually I stopped working out and went on about my life. Fast forward to July 2009. I came home after a day at work, it was super hot and we have a treadmill in the garage. The night before I had drank a little too much so I was probably dehydrated. At this time I was also 50 pounds over weight. Got on the treadmill felt pretty good the first 10 minutes, I decided to pump it up and see how much I can push. I brought the incline up as far as it would go and brought the speed up to 6 or 7 mph. I was pushing that for about 3 minutes until I started to get really SOB. I slowed it down and brought the incline down but was still unable to recover. So I decided to bail off the treadmill and head for the door. Didn't make it to the door, fainted. Mom came out because she heard the fall and helped me to the living room where I collapsed again.
This freaked me out. I decided to make an appointment to get a full check up. Cardiologist did and echo and found that my valve was 1.0cm to .9cm. He told me it was time to cut soon. I was shocked. He ordered a stress test to confirm. I didn't feel too symptomatic. I couldn't believe it. a few weeks later sometime in November 2009 we did the stress test and even though I completed it and didn't have symptoms he noted that my blood pressure didn't rise and suggested I stop all exercise and talk to a surgeon. At this point I started to feel more fatigued and seemed to get different sensations in my chest throughout the day. I would also notice some SOB, most the time it felt like I couldn't take a full satisfying breath.
The bad news is I didn't have insurance at this time :eek2: Fast forward to August 2010 over a year since I fainted. The symptoms seem to be getting worse. My cardiologist suggest that I go to county Harbor UCLA to started the process of getting the surgery done there. So I did, they did two echos, one performed by a cardiologist and another performed by an experienced tech. Both came out with a valve area of 1.4cm maybe even 1.6cm. Why the fainting doc? Why the SOB at rest? Why the uncomfortable feelings in my chest? Cardio says maybe anxiety, probably all in my head. He confirmed that at this point I'm not a candidate for valve replacement and that my images were crystal clear.
The doctor even said I could begin to exercise again! Just to take it easy and don't do anything extreme. He noted I would eventually need surgery but now is not the time. WOW! what a relief. About a month later I got a new job with insurance and was still feeling like crap but chalked it up to stress and worry.
Fast forward to April 2011 nearly two years since I've fainted. Symptoms seem to be getting worse. Decided to go to cardiologist to get follow up. The same cardiologist that told me I originally needed surgery. We eventually got around to doing a TEE last week which showed a valve area of .9cm and a gradient of 64 and aorta mildly dilated at 4.1cm. At this point the doctor said no more driving or working you are done. Start talking to surgeons. :eek2: :frown2:
So at home for the last week, and I feel so bored! I have my first consults with surgeons this week. I just want to get this over with. The symptoms suck, I feel like its hard to breath even while sitting and watching TV sometimes. Been noticing getting dizzy when standing up. Various chest and back pain come and go, I get a lot of palpitations, sometimes I get slight tingling in my hands. Don't know if the valve is completely to blame for symptoms or not. I'm sure worry and stress don't make it any better. I'm just taking it one minute at a time.
Sorry for the novel just wanted to share my story.
I entered high school and starting smoking cannabis everyday for several years. Got a girlfriend and was with her for several years. In my late teens early 20's started to experiment with methamphetamine. I wasn't addicted but would do it once in a great while. Until about 6 years ago I had a very bad "trip" with it and it put me into serious anxiety and depression for over a year. It was hard to leave the house. Terrible experience wouldn't wish it on anyone.
At this point my heart issue was in back of my mind but I totally thought the problem corrected itself. I didn't understand the severity of the condition. I didn't understand the importance of follow ups. I went on about my life and started to work out at a gym with a friend in 2006. I felt good at the work outs accept for when we would do squats. For some reason those just made me feel strange after, can't explain it. I started to think about my heart again. The strange feeling would just go away after a couple of hours so who cares right?
Eventually I stopped working out and went on about my life. Fast forward to July 2009. I came home after a day at work, it was super hot and we have a treadmill in the garage. The night before I had drank a little too much so I was probably dehydrated. At this time I was also 50 pounds over weight. Got on the treadmill felt pretty good the first 10 minutes, I decided to pump it up and see how much I can push. I brought the incline up as far as it would go and brought the speed up to 6 or 7 mph. I was pushing that for about 3 minutes until I started to get really SOB. I slowed it down and brought the incline down but was still unable to recover. So I decided to bail off the treadmill and head for the door. Didn't make it to the door, fainted. Mom came out because she heard the fall and helped me to the living room where I collapsed again.
This freaked me out. I decided to make an appointment to get a full check up. Cardiologist did and echo and found that my valve was 1.0cm to .9cm. He told me it was time to cut soon. I was shocked. He ordered a stress test to confirm. I didn't feel too symptomatic. I couldn't believe it. a few weeks later sometime in November 2009 we did the stress test and even though I completed it and didn't have symptoms he noted that my blood pressure didn't rise and suggested I stop all exercise and talk to a surgeon. At this point I started to feel more fatigued and seemed to get different sensations in my chest throughout the day. I would also notice some SOB, most the time it felt like I couldn't take a full satisfying breath.
The bad news is I didn't have insurance at this time :eek2: Fast forward to August 2010 over a year since I fainted. The symptoms seem to be getting worse. My cardiologist suggest that I go to county Harbor UCLA to started the process of getting the surgery done there. So I did, they did two echos, one performed by a cardiologist and another performed by an experienced tech. Both came out with a valve area of 1.4cm maybe even 1.6cm. Why the fainting doc? Why the SOB at rest? Why the uncomfortable feelings in my chest? Cardio says maybe anxiety, probably all in my head. He confirmed that at this point I'm not a candidate for valve replacement and that my images were crystal clear.
The doctor even said I could begin to exercise again! Just to take it easy and don't do anything extreme. He noted I would eventually need surgery but now is not the time. WOW! what a relief. About a month later I got a new job with insurance and was still feeling like crap but chalked it up to stress and worry.
Fast forward to April 2011 nearly two years since I've fainted. Symptoms seem to be getting worse. Decided to go to cardiologist to get follow up. The same cardiologist that told me I originally needed surgery. We eventually got around to doing a TEE last week which showed a valve area of .9cm and a gradient of 64 and aorta mildly dilated at 4.1cm. At this point the doctor said no more driving or working you are done. Start talking to surgeons. :eek2: :frown2:
So at home for the last week, and I feel so bored! I have my first consults with surgeons this week. I just want to get this over with. The symptoms suck, I feel like its hard to breath even while sitting and watching TV sometimes. Been noticing getting dizzy when standing up. Various chest and back pain come and go, I get a lot of palpitations, sometimes I get slight tingling in my hands. Don't know if the valve is completely to blame for symptoms or not. I'm sure worry and stress don't make it any better. I'm just taking it one minute at a time.
Sorry for the novel just wanted to share my story.
