tigerlily
Well-known member
Hi everyone,
It has been a while since I've posted. I'm now 8 months post-op and feel great most of the time. My life has been very busy. It's divided between work, time in my painting studio, raising my son, my husband, extended family, friends and staying healthy.
At 7 months, I had an echocardiogram to see how I was doing. I have been bothered from time to time with the feeling that my breathing is somehow constricted and I wanted to see what the echo would show.
My Cardio said I was doing fine but I have several questions regarding my report that perhaps y'all can help me with. The report said I have mild left atrium enlargement (LAE) and mild concentric LVH. I was taken off metoprolol at 6 months. I'm wondering if I should have stayed on the beta-blocker longer to give my heart every chance to completely remodel. I have no blood pressure issues and no problems with irregular heart beats (knock on wood). I was having some mild symptoms on the metoprolol and that's why I asked if I could stop taking it.
The other question has to do with gradients. I understand that the gradient tells you how hard your heart is working to pump blood through your new valve. My peak gradient was 26.6 mmHg and the mean gradient was 16 mmHg. No Al (whatever that means). Are these numbers in line with the type of valve replacement I had? My valve information is below.
Everything else was normal. Yeah!!
It's great to connect with everyone again. It isn't possible to fully describe how much this forum has meant to me. I think I would have gone crazy without it. That was especially true just before and right after my surgery.
I very much appreciate your feedback.
It has been a while since I've posted. I'm now 8 months post-op and feel great most of the time. My life has been very busy. It's divided between work, time in my painting studio, raising my son, my husband, extended family, friends and staying healthy.
At 7 months, I had an echocardiogram to see how I was doing. I have been bothered from time to time with the feeling that my breathing is somehow constricted and I wanted to see what the echo would show.
My Cardio said I was doing fine but I have several questions regarding my report that perhaps y'all can help me with. The report said I have mild left atrium enlargement (LAE) and mild concentric LVH. I was taken off metoprolol at 6 months. I'm wondering if I should have stayed on the beta-blocker longer to give my heart every chance to completely remodel. I have no blood pressure issues and no problems with irregular heart beats (knock on wood). I was having some mild symptoms on the metoprolol and that's why I asked if I could stop taking it.
The other question has to do with gradients. I understand that the gradient tells you how hard your heart is working to pump blood through your new valve. My peak gradient was 26.6 mmHg and the mean gradient was 16 mmHg. No Al (whatever that means). Are these numbers in line with the type of valve replacement I had? My valve information is below.
Everything else was normal. Yeah!!
It's great to connect with everyone again. It isn't possible to fully describe how much this forum has meant to me. I think I would have gone crazy without it. That was especially true just before and right after my surgery.
I very much appreciate your feedback.
