need advice please!!!

[lorrieb]

I had my aortic valve replaced in 2000. now 4 years later they are talking about regurgitation on the same valve.
I am not sure if it means anything but i have a st jude valve and used to hear it all the time . now i cant hear it at all. i didnt seem concerned about it until i had my echo done and the guy doing the echo says what kind of valve do you have . i tell him a st jude and he says wow i can normally hear those from across the room. so now i am going to have a TEE test . but i am so scared that i am going to have another surgery. has anyone else had this problem?

thanks lorrie

 

[Rush20]

Good luck with your test. I hope everything turns out OK. I wouldn't read too much into the comments about hearing the St. Jude from across the room. Sometimes mine is very loud and sometimes I can barely hear it. It has a log to due with the condition you are in, excited, nervous, etc. and more importantly the environment you're in.

Please post and tell us the results of your Tee test.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hi Lorrie,

Try to 'stay in the moment', i.e., don't fret about the future by playing 'what if' games. Wait until you get the results of your TEE and go from there.

YES, it's a lot easier said than done, but you will be a lot more relaxed if you can do it.

FWIW, they gave me enough VERSED (and Demerol) that I wasn't aware of the tube going down my throat at all and I didn't remember a thing. The throat spray (to suppress the gag reflex) is pretty YUCKY. Just swallow it after they spray and remind yourself that you don't want to gag on the tube, even if the stuff is YUCKY. Do NOT let them forget to spray your throat. NOT GOOD, believe me!

'AL'

 

[Nancy]

A lot of times tests are recommended to rule something out. There have been quite a few people on the site who have had something look unusual in the echo, and then are sent for a TEE. Once the TEE is done, everything turns out OK.

My husband had an echo last year and the doctor came in to tell him that it looked like both his aortic and mitral mechanical had problems. Once the TEE was done, and it was a very, very thorough one, the shadows were explained and it turned out to be OK, no problems.

So try not to worry. Have the test done and keep positive thoughts.

Good luck.

 

[lorrieb]

thank you for the support

thank you for the support

thank you all for the words of comfort. my consultation is on the 19 and I will definitely keep you posted. maybe if i think the worst then I will be pleasantly surprised when it does turn out to be nothing. (i'm praying).

 

[Harpoon]

You know, I remember that spray from a few seperate occassions when they used it, even once before they intubated me (I THINK it was as I was jumping off the deep end when my kidneys crashed, before they ran me into emergency surgery to replace my valve)

It's not the most pleasant taste in the world, but I've had a lot worse in my mouth, including some things people would actually call food.


It's over before you know it and they make you pretty sleepy as they're putting the TEE in.

Best thing you can do is stay in the moment and try not to think ahead to the "what if's"

What if it's nothing at all?


Not everyone can hear my valve. Sometimes it's so quiet I can't here it.

I can't hear it now in fact.


There seems to be some correlation between blood pressure, heart rate, and how audible the valve is. I haven't paid enough attention with my own to really confirm it, but I have noticed that if I'm relaxed but "active" I can't hear it as well as if I'm tensed up or if I'm being quite (like reading a book in bed or something.)


Wait until the test is done before you start asking questions.

The doctors may have found regurgitation somewhere. They probably don't know just where yet and they're going to find that out with this test (and maybe a few others.)

Best to just take it in. Let them find out what's going on, it might not neccesarily be going "wrong" and then head towards a solution if it's needed.


There's a lot to be said for one's state of mind when going through all this stuff. If you can maintain a possitive attitude, keep yourself relaxed and just take thigns as they come, then you're more likely to have a good outcome than if you brood over everything, let yourself get worked up over unknowns, and keep asking, "what if's?"


Take a breath and relax.

 

[McCln]

Lorrieb

Lorrieb

Please just try to relax. On the ticking of the valve, over time you do not hear it because you get used to the ticking and then no longer hear it. I will pray that nothing shows up. I say nothing it to worry about as long a your are not experiencing problems with the valve. You just hang in there and everything will be fine. Take care.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic vale replacement
St. Jude's valve

 

[RCB]

Tee Taste

Tee Taste

The stuff they used on me for my TEE, tasted like the sore
throat pain reliever-"Chorospetic"(sp?), only stronger. After they spray it down your throat, you should swallow( too make it go down farther) and then(if your dr. has timed the
drug cocktail right) you are off to sleepy time. Then you wake-up with a slightly sore throat. That's it.
It would be extremely rare for anything to be wrong with
your valve at this point in time- Let us know how the TEE
results comes out. Good luck

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi lorrieb!
as the others have said, try not to worry unless you have to.
my husband, joey, was found to have a severe leak 6 months post op and when they did the tee (which he remembers nothing of), they found that there are two trivial leaks, one of which is a fistula.
nothing needs to be done about these and he is just checked regularly.
so, try and take it easy for now and you'll know so much more after the tee.
wishing you all the best, sylvia