A
AJ Golf
Hello to all of you wonderful people here on this forum. It's good to see that some came along months before having surgery; and those who are years into recovery.
It appears that my time has come to have the surgery I have been avoiding for many years. For the longest time, there were no significant changes noted. I was diagnosed in the early 1990's while in the military. I was able to continue serving until I retired in 2002. for a large portion of that time, I was able to stay with the same cardiologist. I retired; and about a little over a year later he left the military for private practice out of state. Our last visit was encouraging in the fact that though he stressed to continue to get seen, I was fortunate that there were no significant changes warranting surgery anytime soon. This is sometime in 2004.
I had a follow up in the military hospital with the "new doc", but he was called away on an emergency and I waited, and waited, and hours later we had a brief talk in the hallway! He scheduled my semi-annual echo, and that was it. I couldn't get in to see him, and I got no calls about any problems. I got copies of all my tests over the years and put them in a file at home.
Now at this time, my wife (my rock!) was working for a cardiology group. They were kind enough to unofficially look at my tests and stated to keep on top of it. I didn't until last year - a good year and a half after my last real visit. Bottom line - the numbers got a little worse, and many opinons later (about a half dozen read the echo) they all said surgery is something to "look at seriously" now.
Now to a few weeks ago, another echo, and the numbers have stayed relatively the same, except the EF. So my first TEE, and my new doc says - it's time now! FYI - the wife is with another firm now, but I am being seen by her former employers - they are the best in the area!
Sorry so long winded, but it's alot of info and I wanted to get it out there. FYI, during my initial diagnosis at the Naval Hospital in Florida, the doc gave it to me straight - if you do nothing to correct this, your heart will explode! He gave me the comparison to a stretching water balloon. He estimated by age 50 (I'm now 44). He suggested surgery should happen around 35 - which we all know didn't.
I did have some of the top cardiologist and surgeons in the military looking at me. I was sort of a "guinea pig" as well, where the doc would call me out of the blue and ask if I could come to the clinic so students could listen to my heart and guess what I had. I should have charged admission ...
Thanks and I look forward to some more posts pre-surgery and will (God willing) post-surgery as well.
It appears that my time has come to have the surgery I have been avoiding for many years. For the longest time, there were no significant changes noted. I was diagnosed in the early 1990's while in the military. I was able to continue serving until I retired in 2002. for a large portion of that time, I was able to stay with the same cardiologist. I retired; and about a little over a year later he left the military for private practice out of state. Our last visit was encouraging in the fact that though he stressed to continue to get seen, I was fortunate that there were no significant changes warranting surgery anytime soon. This is sometime in 2004.
I had a follow up in the military hospital with the "new doc", but he was called away on an emergency and I waited, and waited, and hours later we had a brief talk in the hallway! He scheduled my semi-annual echo, and that was it. I couldn't get in to see him, and I got no calls about any problems. I got copies of all my tests over the years and put them in a file at home.
Now at this time, my wife (my rock!) was working for a cardiology group. They were kind enough to unofficially look at my tests and stated to keep on top of it. I didn't until last year - a good year and a half after my last real visit. Bottom line - the numbers got a little worse, and many opinons later (about a half dozen read the echo) they all said surgery is something to "look at seriously" now.
Now to a few weeks ago, another echo, and the numbers have stayed relatively the same, except the EF. So my first TEE, and my new doc says - it's time now! FYI - the wife is with another firm now, but I am being seen by her former employers - they are the best in the area!
Sorry so long winded, but it's alot of info and I wanted to get it out there. FYI, during my initial diagnosis at the Naval Hospital in Florida, the doc gave it to me straight - if you do nothing to correct this, your heart will explode! He gave me the comparison to a stretching water balloon. He estimated by age 50 (I'm now 44). He suggested surgery should happen around 35 - which we all know didn't.
I did have some of the top cardiologist and surgeons in the military looking at me. I was sort of a "guinea pig" as well, where the doc would call me out of the blue and ask if I could come to the clinic so students could listen to my heart and guess what I had. I should have charged admission ...
Thanks and I look forward to some more posts pre-surgery and will (God willing) post-surgery as well.
