MarkU
Well-known member
I haven't been around this forum for a while, but I thought I'd drop by and share the results of my one year follow-up with my cardiologist. I'm 48 years old and had a bicuspid aortic valve replaced with a 27mm St. Jude valve on 12-15-00. I returned to pretty normal activity (including working out at the gym) within 2-3 months after surgery. I take 5.0mg of Coumadin daily.
My one year checkup included an echocardiagram and EKG prior to meeting with my cardiologist.
The good news is that my valve is working fine and the chamber pressures in my heart are back to normal range. The lingering concern is that prior to my surgery I had developed slight left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), the enlargement of the heart muscle compensating for my bad valve. This has not improved since my surgery. My cardiologist says that sometimes the muscle will return to normal, but sometimes not. He was concerned about my weightllifting at the gym and asked me not to do any powerlifting, although I can continue lifting moderate weights at high-reps. Since my surgery I have also significantly increased my anaerobic cardiovascular workouts (mostly stationary bike) to 20 minutes, four times per week. We also set a goal of 10% reduction in body weight in the next six to twelve months.
I have my next checkup scheduled in 12 months. Because of the variability inherent with the echocardiagram (+/- 10%), he decided not to do another one for 24 months.
Overall I feel good, but the news about the LVH is a bit of a bummer.
Mark
My one year checkup included an echocardiagram and EKG prior to meeting with my cardiologist.
The good news is that my valve is working fine and the chamber pressures in my heart are back to normal range. The lingering concern is that prior to my surgery I had developed slight left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), the enlargement of the heart muscle compensating for my bad valve. This has not improved since my surgery. My cardiologist says that sometimes the muscle will return to normal, but sometimes not. He was concerned about my weightllifting at the gym and asked me not to do any powerlifting, although I can continue lifting moderate weights at high-reps. Since my surgery I have also significantly increased my anaerobic cardiovascular workouts (mostly stationary bike) to 20 minutes, four times per week. We also set a goal of 10% reduction in body weight in the next six to twelve months.
I have my next checkup scheduled in 12 months. Because of the variability inherent with the echocardiagram (+/- 10%), he decided not to do another one for 24 months.
Overall I feel good, but the news about the LVH is a bit of a bummer.
Mark
