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[Comet]

Hi there, I am a partner of someone in the 'waiting room' My husband was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse 20-odd years ago, and has been having annual cardiology checks for some years now. At his last check a few months ago his cardiologist was very concerned and said that it would be likely he'd have to have surgery as his regurgitation and enlargement was worsening. Next week he is having an exercise echo at the request of the cardiologist after conferring with his colleagues, they want to have a good look at the heart to see exactly where it is at. He meets with the cardiologist a couple of days after that for the verdict. He has not really had other symptoms other than being tired which we put down to parenting an active 15mth old! He cycles to work most days (7km) and enjoys fly fishing which itself involves scrambling over some pretty rough terrain.

The cardiologist only mentioned a mechanical valve, probably because my husband is 42, but to be honest I don't even know if they do porcine/bovine replacements here in New Zealand. My husband is quite nervous but I think is at the stage where he would prefer to have the surgery if it means preventing further damage to his heart, although he is not keen on warfarin, as he enjoys his beer & wine...

He has left it to me to do all the research as I am at home with our young son and so I found this site, which has been very informative. I certainly will have a lot of questions for him to ask the cardiologist!

My husband also has classic symptoms of mitral valve prolapse syndrome, which we have read a bit about but I haven't seen anything of on this site - anxiety, panic attacks, irritable bowel type symptoms - I don't know if the other mvp people on here subscribe to the mvp-syndrome theory or not.

I just want to say thank you to all those that contribute to this site as it is an amazing resource for those of us faced with this daunting challenge.

Comet

 

[Ross]

Hello and welcome. Valve choice is alway a hard choice. You've got mechanical, tissue, cadaver, Ross procedure etc. Best thing to do is read the Famous Tobagotwo writings at the beginning of this forum. He gives an unbiased look at the pro and con of each selection. If you have more questions, ask away afterwards.

 

[Adrienne]

Welcome Comet. I just want to say that with the mitral valve it can very, very often be repaired instead of replaced. I don't know what the medical facilities are like in New Zealand, but we have a lot of members from Australia, and if it means that your husband has to go to Australia to find a surgeon that can do a repair, trust me, it's worth it! He definitely needs to do research on surgeons who do a lot of MV repairs.

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome to the community. Glad you found us. Wish your husband all the best for his visit with the Card next week.

 

[Phyllis]

Glad you found us Comet and wish you and your husband the best when you see the cardio next week. Research was my job too when Dick was pre-surgery. Unfortunately, we hadn't found this site at that time. There's a lot of information here and I hope that you both can benefit from it. Keep us informed. Best wishes,
Phyllis

 

[Comet]

Thanks for the welcome
Yes, we will have to ask if repair is an option. I don't know if we get a choice of surgeon through the public health system here in NZ - I guess if we wanted to pay privately we could (but the private consultants generally work for the public hospital anyway!). I have been trying to find out any information on our local hospital's surgeons experience and specialisations but no luck so far on the internet, I might have to contact the hospital directly. We don't have medical insurance as it would be a pre-existing condition that would not be covered (my husband couldn't even get life insurance, only accidental death cover). In NZ everyone (citizens) is entitled to free medical care for life-threatening conditions, a bit different than the States I think.

I think a lot of the choices you outlined Ross are not available here, for example homografts - I think we only had about 30 organ donations nationwide in the whole of NZ last year - it is really bad, really low donor ratio. I would also have my doubts about some of the more complicated surgeries too, but I may be doing our surgeons a disservice.

Comet

 

[Ross]

Mechanical makes sense given his age. You really don't want to be doing this over and over again and mechanical gives you the best possible shot at a one time fix, though nothing is guaranteed.

 

[Bridgette]

Hi Comet

I am from New Zealand, and I had a mitral valve replacement in December last year.
You can private mail me if you want to discuss things with me - to get a local perspective on it.

Bridgette

 

[Comet]

Thanks Bridgette, I have PM'ed you.

Comet

 

[NascarfanMary]

Welcome Comet,

Glad you found us. This is an awesome website. Like Ross said, mechanical valve replacement is a good chose. My Dr. talked about the tissue and the mechanical to me. He stated that mechanical valve would be the best for me, as I getting worse as time went by.

I was 40 yrs old and actually the Dr. made the choice for me. I trusted him with my life. When I asked him what he would do if it were him, he said " I would chose a mechnical".

The only thing that I was concerned with was taking the coumadin. But is has its up and downs, but it is part of my life. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Karlynn]

Welcome Comet! You will want to read this thread http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17116 It will give you some quick information on Coumadin that might rest some worry away from your husband.

I would not be surprised if, after he has the surgery and has recovered some, that he realizes he was having more symptoms than he thought he was. Yes, a 15 mo old requires lots of energy. But I'm guessing his mitral valve issues are playing a roll.

I'm glad you found our little "family". Keep us posted on what is going on.

 

[readsforfun]

Welcome, Comet! You truly are lucky to have found this site. It has been a total Godsend for me! I'm sure you will be able to find if not all, at least 95% of the information you and your hubby will need for your future decisions. Again, welcome to the fold.

Jan

 

[aussiemember]

My husband also has classic symptoms of mitral valve prolapse syndrome, which we have read a bit about but I haven't seen anything of on this site - anxiety, panic attacks, irritable bowel type symptoms - I don't know if the other mvp people on here subscribe to the mvp-syndrome theory or not.

Hi Comet and welcome to the site. I also have MVP, diagnosed 25 years ago and told last year I would need surgery in the next couple of years. I am from Melbourne and there are a number of surgeons who do repairs here, BUT due to the condition of my valve I have been told it will need to be replaced not repaired. Interesting you should mention about MVP syndrome. I certainly have some of the symptoms you mention but so does my brother who does not have MVP so not sure if it is a heart or family thing Regards Jeanne