Spike,
Welcome to The Waiting Room -- the virtual room in which many of us await our own turns at valve surgery.
The others have given you great advice. There are a number of tests that should now be done to determine the severity of your stenosis. These tests can also show if any other conditios exist that impact your treatment plan.
The mere fact that you have been diagnosed with aortic stenosis doesn't yet tell you much. Depending upon the degree of stenosis, you may or may not exhibit symptoms (the "cardinal" ones are shortness of breath, fainting and chest pain). You may or may not need to restrict your physical activity.
Without any echocardiogram information, we can't help much as to what to expect. Stenotic aortic valves can cause restricted or reduced blood flow to the body, or they can leak, allowing blood to flow back into the heart, or they can have little effect for a long time. Every case is different.
In my own cast, I also have aortic stenosis. We don't know how long I've had it, as it was only diagnosed about 6 years ago. They currently rate my stenosis as "moderate to severe." I'm now 60 years old and about the only symptom I notice is that of reduced exercise tolerance. I still jog about 20 miles a week, but at a slower pace. My cardio tells me to limit any weight lifting to low weight but as many repetitions as I want. All in all, life is good.
What all this means is that life goes on. You need the information to manage your care, but unless you are having symptoms of the stenosis you will probably be here with us in the waiting room for a while, until they feel the time is right for surgery.
Hang in there. It is rough to get used to the idea at first, but over time it becomes manageable.
