Welcome to VR.com. Good luck. I'm sorry I don't have any answers but wanted to welcome you.
Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:
Hi Aaron,
I don't have anything to add beyond the advice already posted, but I did want to say hello and wish you the best of luck sorting these things out. It seems like you're handling everything well and getting more opinions, which is the best long-term strategy.
Welcome to VR.com.
--Brad
I don't have anything to add beyond the advice already posted, but I did want to say hello and wish you the best of luck sorting these things out. It seems like you're handling everything well and getting more opinions, which is the best long-term strategy.
Welcome to VR.com.
--Brad
W
woodworker5280
howdy folks. sitting around the house extremely bored and a bit lonely so i decided to post a quick update.
things have been going alright. my mom left on saturday so i've been back on my own for a couple of days now. have been walking every day, and trying to increase my activity every day. the weather has been all over the place here in Denver, just started snowing a bit ago so I think my evening walk is out. mostly my physical stuff has been fine. my blood pressure was super low this weekend, one night even down to 85/50. it's back up to normal as of last night and today, i think i just wasnt eating enough sodium and good sugars. after eating some fruit and some of my nice veggie soup, i feel better.
looking forward to wednesday morning when i will be going back to the hospital to meet with the doctors at the Congenital Heart Disorder program there. I'm hoping they can give me good answers to my questions, and provide strong, thorough care as my cardiologists for the foreseeable future. The cardiologist that referred me to the surgeons wasnt exactly a ray of sunshine and seemed relatively uninterested in me as a patient, so I hope these new docs will be better.
i'm feeling pretty good about my physical recovery, it's just the emotional stuff that's keeping me down. i have a lot of stressful stuff going on, including a former employer withholding my final paycheck because "he's broke." i told him to join the club and to try having heart surgery while he's at it. hopefully things will sort themselves, but i have to be honest the depression and sometimes anger is taking over a lot of the time. just trying to take it one day at a time and grasping for anything positive regarding my recovery....
anyway, so much for my "quick update." i'm a wordy guy, what can i say?
ciao,
aaron
things have been going alright. my mom left on saturday so i've been back on my own for a couple of days now. have been walking every day, and trying to increase my activity every day. the weather has been all over the place here in Denver, just started snowing a bit ago so I think my evening walk is out. mostly my physical stuff has been fine. my blood pressure was super low this weekend, one night even down to 85/50. it's back up to normal as of last night and today, i think i just wasnt eating enough sodium and good sugars. after eating some fruit and some of my nice veggie soup, i feel better.
looking forward to wednesday morning when i will be going back to the hospital to meet with the doctors at the Congenital Heart Disorder program there. I'm hoping they can give me good answers to my questions, and provide strong, thorough care as my cardiologists for the foreseeable future. The cardiologist that referred me to the surgeons wasnt exactly a ray of sunshine and seemed relatively uninterested in me as a patient, so I hope these new docs will be better.
i'm feeling pretty good about my physical recovery, it's just the emotional stuff that's keeping me down. i have a lot of stressful stuff going on, including a former employer withholding my final paycheck because "he's broke." i told him to join the club and to try having heart surgery while he's at it. hopefully things will sort themselves, but i have to be honest the depression and sometimes anger is taking over a lot of the time. just trying to take it one day at a time and grasping for anything positive regarding my recovery....
anyway, so much for my "quick update." i'm a wordy guy, what can i say?
ciao,
aaron
KAJ
Well-known member
Hello Arron and welcome to the club!
You and I have few things in common. First, like you, I also have a concave chest. It is not as bad now but it was really, really concave. My pectus was repaired on in Nov 1982. The surgeon recommended it be corrected. He took before pictures. Every now and then I will look at them and think, wow, my sternum was really concave. The Nuss procedure did not exist at that time.
It may be worth while looking into the Nuss procedure before you get any older. It is my understanding the Nuss procedure basically reshapes the sternum kind of like braces on teeth. If is an option for you, it may become less and less of an option as you grow older. One of our members has a son who had the procedure. I will try to figure out who it is and get back to you. He may be able to go into greater detail about it.
When my AVR was found during a heartcath, the cardiologist looked at my chest and told my wife I had Marfanns. I an 6' 1 and thin. He put me on two kinds medications. My wife being a registered nusre doubted the diagnosis of Marfanns. She had me see a cardiologist she knew at her hospital. He determined I did not have Marfanns but did confirm BAV.
Our oldest daugther (13) is tall and thin and was tested for connective tissue disease including Marfanns but none was found. A cardiologist is not yet certain about her aoritic valve.
Just curious, did your conave chest present any challengies to the doctor performing the AVR? My surgeon looked at my corrected pectus and stated "that is going to be a challenge." Not really what I wanted hear from an extremely experienced surgeon. It did present some challenges to him but he was able to work around it.
Karl
You and I have few things in common. First, like you, I also have a concave chest. It is not as bad now but it was really, really concave. My pectus was repaired on in Nov 1982. The surgeon recommended it be corrected. He took before pictures. Every now and then I will look at them and think, wow, my sternum was really concave. The Nuss procedure did not exist at that time.
It may be worth while looking into the Nuss procedure before you get any older. It is my understanding the Nuss procedure basically reshapes the sternum kind of like braces on teeth. If is an option for you, it may become less and less of an option as you grow older. One of our members has a son who had the procedure. I will try to figure out who it is and get back to you. He may be able to go into greater detail about it.
When my AVR was found during a heartcath, the cardiologist looked at my chest and told my wife I had Marfanns. I an 6' 1 and thin. He put me on two kinds medications. My wife being a registered nusre doubted the diagnosis of Marfanns. She had me see a cardiologist she knew at her hospital. He determined I did not have Marfanns but did confirm BAV.
Our oldest daugther (13) is tall and thin and was tested for connective tissue disease including Marfanns but none was found. A cardiologist is not yet certain about her aoritic valve.
Just curious, did your conave chest present any challengies to the doctor performing the AVR? My surgeon looked at my corrected pectus and stated "that is going to be a challenge." Not really what I wanted hear from an extremely experienced surgeon. It did present some challenges to him but he was able to work around it.
Karl
G
Guest
Hey Aaron,
First ... WELCOME.
Second ... I understand what you mean about the depression and anger, somewhat anyway. Right before I had my third open heart surgery (January 2003), I was very angry/bitter/depressed/sad/mad ... you name it. My grandmother (Mom's side) had just died that October (2002) and many other things were NOT going right at all. So, I'm not sure I started out with the right attitude towards the surgery, but as it came closer, I felt more and more relaxed and, more or less, at peace.
By the time I was on the road to recovery, I was realizing that I had to be happy to make things work. And, just like that, something "snapped" inside of me...and I became a better person for it. Can't say that I'm 100% happy and such all the time, but I'm not sure anyone really is anyway....
*shrugs*
MOST things have "fallen into place" for me, but others ... well, not so much.
Point is ... you will find a way to get through all of this, including the depression and anger....
Thoughts/prayers coming your way for a continued SUCCESSFUL recovery.
Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 drive = Sept '09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"It's snowing in the pines" ... Alabama ... 'Christmas In Dixie'
