Pre-Surgery Jitters

[Fitzy]

I am 35 yrs old and in May of this yr I began to notice a slight tightning in my chest when I began to run. I visited my GP and to make a long story short I was diagnosed as having a leaky aortic valve. I have done a lot of research both on the web and asking some doctors who are friends of mine and I am happy with my choice of surgeon and hospital as it has one of the leading cardiac theatres in the uk. My main worry is about the post op and life with my new mechanical valve. Warfarin (coumadin ) will be the anti coag. i will be using and as I lead a pretty active lifestyle ( Mountain Biking , Running , Hillwalking ) I hope to be able to continue with these after my op.

Any words of advice would be appreciated.

 

[bvdr]

Hi Fitzy and welcome to this forum. There are many people here who have dealt with or are dealing with the exact same issues you are regarding post-op lifestyle. I am sure they will be along shortly and give you their first hand accounts.

In the meantime, start browsing through some of the threads here and read read read.

Ask anything you want and please make yourself entirely at home. We are always so pleased to have new members. I would say that the majority of us are on warfarin and for most of us it isn't such a life-changing thing. For some though it has created serious problems.

I'll step aside now and let the mountain bikers and runners and so speak up. Again......welcome.

 

[JimL]

Welcome, Fitzy!

You ask especially about life after surgery. I was very symptomatic before surgery; walking even a few steps had me breathing hard. That changed immediately after surgery. I am still sometimes (almost two years later) amazed at how very, very easy it is to breathe. Less than a year after surgery, I joined a walk to support my local cardiac rehab and walked the four miles in less than an hour. Since you are younger, I would think you would have a wonderful recovery.

There are two things you will have to keep in mind for yourself and make sure you monitor them for yourself. First is making a gradual recovery, so that you don't do too much too soon. Very important here is getting into a cardiac rehab program within a few weeks after surgery. They will guide you in doing just the right amount of exercise at the right time.

The second is the danger of bleeding with coumadin. The danger is highly overrated, I've not had any difficulty since surgery, although I'm just as clumsy as ever and still use (and abuse) power tools. But you do want to think through ahead of time some of the worst case scenarios of some of the rougher things you want to do. If you did get a head injury, if you did start bleeding, what would you do, or what would be done for you? I haven't hesitated to do any of the things I did before surgery, but then I've never played rugby, and I don't even know what hillwalking is, although it sounds interesting.

 

[Nancy]

Hello Fitzy-

Welcome to the site.

The things you are wondering about are things that are debated on the site all the time. We have a large group of folks who are into active sports, some of whom are on Coumadin, and some not.

My husband has been on Coumadin for 25 years, and has never had a serious bleed involving an out of range INR (protime test results). He's well monitored and when he was a younger man, he was very active and into many different sports.

We are all here to help you with your pre-surgery jitters, and to help you get up and over that mountain.

Hope to see you here often.

 

[ccrawford]

Hi Fitzy - Welcome to VR.com I certainly understand your jitters. I bet mine were worse last march and april. You've come to a great site to learn a bunch about the whole valve life style business. The more you understand, the less anxiety you will have. To sort of help you get comfortable, I'm 60, have a mechanical valve, and take coumadin. Pre surgery, I had to take three breaks walking the 1/4 mile to our mail box. Post surgery, I can walk for several miles without being winded or tiring. I run a small woodworking business and manage a small farm. I'm planning a scuba diving trip to mexico in November, and my arms get scratched badly from briars or friendly dogs at least once a week. Nuff said. With the right information, you'll do just fine. By the way, Smithsonian magzine had a piece on walking accross GB just last month. sounds absolutely wonderful. Chris

 

[Georgia]

Hey Fitzy - welcome

Hey Fitzy - welcome

I believe that several generations ago my relatives came from Co. Cork. My greatgrandmother's name was Bresnahan; but for the life of me I can't remember what town she was from - have to find my great-aunt's journal.

Welcome to our site; we've all been where you are; the difference as I see it is that some folks have a lot more time to stew than others. I was 10 days diagnosis to surgery; some are shorter. Many have quite a while to anticipate and plan; looks like you'll be able to join our waiting room for a while. Steve will like that; he keeps losing his co-waitees.

Make good use of this special resource; you'll never regret it. Probably some of the stuff will make you nervous; just read as much as you can stomach and come back another day.

Hang in there; we're with you all the way.

 

[nadi]

Welcome!!

Welcome!!

You have come to a great site! I was lucky to find this site a little over a month before my surgery this past May. Everyone here will try to answer your questions and it they don't have an answer someone will find the answer.

Georgia suggestion to read past post really helped me. I tried to learn all I could because I freeze up when I talk to Dr's and forget 90% of what I wanted to know.

Since surgery I definitely breathe a lot easier, I have had a few set backs but I hope all that is coming to an end.

 

[JAMES W]

WELCOME

WELCOME

Fitzy,

Welcome to VR.Com...
Unlike many here, I found this site a month after my AVR. Oh what a blessing this site is to many of us! I only wished I'd known of it before my surgery. Read the stories, forums and the many many threads pretaining to your questions, they are very helpful. If something doesn't 'fill your bill'. just asked, there are many experiences here to help you. B/T/W. my grandfather's name was Fitzpatrick...another great old Irishman.
Good Luck.....

 

[wlaldridge]

Welcome to the site. As others have said so well, this IS the Place to come to learn and reduce the jitters.

I was a total wimp last year and worried and feared all the wrong things. These wonderful folks helped me approach this thing to the point that by the morning of my surgery going to the hospital, I was calm and relaxed.

As JimL said, you may have to rethink some activities and the potential outcomes, but for the most part with AVR they set the target INR pretty low and most of us are very well managed to stay within limits. I have had two skin surgeries (one involving a graft) while on Coumadin and only bled a little more than previously and may bruise a little easier. I refused to go off the Coumadin and everything went well.

Generally, it is "no big deal" other than, I hate needles and testing.

Like a good Timex watch, you will be able to "take a licking and keep on ticking".

Ask any question, we will find at least a couple of answers among the wide experience found in this great "family".

Welcome again, and good luck

 

[Fitzy]

Helpful advice

Helpful advice

Thanks to all of you who were kind enough to reply. I will get to know you all in time hopefully. As you all probably know the tunnel can get very dark but there always someone near with a strong light!

 

[Fitzy]

Hi Fitzy and welcome to this forum. There are many people here who have dealt with or are dealing with the exact same issues you are regarding post-op lifestyle. I am sure they will be along shortly and give you their first hand accounts.

In the meantime, start browsing through some of the threads here and read read read.

Ask anything you want and please make yourself entirely at home. We are always so pleased to have new members. I would say that the majority of us are on warfarin and for most of us it isn't such a life-changing thing. For some though it has created serious problems.

I'll step aside now and let the mountain bikers and runners and so speak up. Again......welcome.

 

[Bob]

It takes time to recover

It takes time to recover

It takes time for your body to recover. The worst thing you can do is be impatient and force things. About three months after surgery your head will say lets go!
Don't. Your head doesnt know what is going on at the cell level and that is where time is important. Most of us feel the change happening about six months, some earlier, some later. Just do what a good athlete does..go slow and ease up to where you used to be. I'm an old guy compared to you (67) but I hike the mountains of Olympic National Park where I am a volunteer ranger. I learned to go slow and not set goals that required work. It doesn't matter what I used to do, it only matters what I can do now. It will come my friend and you will be back to your life style when the body is ready.

 

[Jan]

Welcome

Welcome

Hi Fitzy

Welcome to the wonderful world of VR.com

All the worries and concerns that you have are what we have all felt, you are not alone

I found this site 6 months before my surgery and it really helped me and my family understand the mysteries of Valve Replacement

Read past posts ask questions you will get honest answers from people who care

We have a chat session on Sunday evening 10pm UK time
try and drop in and say hello we would love you too join us

Keep smiling

Jan ( Liverpool England )

 

[Granbonny]

Hi Fitzy

Hi Fitzy

We have a wonderful member..named BillyinIreland. Be sure and e-mail him..Click on members up above our forum. Click on B's..find him and click on his name. His e-mail will come up.. Maybe yall are neighbors. Bonnie

 

[mharris]

You have came to a wonderful site. I just turned 30 a few days ago and it has been 3.5 months since second surgery and 5 months since first surgery. I have 4 kids ranging from 9 to 5 months and started my daycare back up today. I think you will be suprised at how fast you will recover and feel good. Just remember to not go to fast because it is really difficult not to. Good luck and take care.
Michelle

 

[hensylee]

Hi, Fitzy - we have several UKers - Simon Gee, Scottie (Scotland), Jane, Billy (Ireland)..........welcome to VR.com By the time you are ready for surgery, you will be far more settled than you are now. We were all up there on the ceiling to begin with and slowly came on down where we belonged and could think with a much clearer head once we found we were not the only one with such a condition. Shock, isn't it, to find out you have a 'condition'! So just hang around in here and get your daily dose of peace from the members here. You will be fine, you just don't know it yet. We'll go from now til then and hold onto you all the way up and over the mountain to the good side. Ann God bless