Second heart surgery, nervous

[Guest]

Hi Guys,

I'm on a waiting list on the NHS in the UK for my second cardiac operation, which may happen in March/April of this year.

I was born with Aortic Stenosis and underwent a Ross procedure at the age of 8.

I am now 23 and my aortic valve is severely leaking and my aortic root is dilated at 49mm.

I'll be getting a St Judes mechanical aortic valve along with a dacron graft for the root.

I don't have any other severe health issues besides a small bout of acne and flat feet, and weigh 58kg at 5 foot 11.

I am quite nervous. the wait really stresses me out, and undergoing another heart surgery frightens me. I've been told the risk of death for me will be 2-3%, and because I have scar tissue, there is a chance that I could get a permanent pacemaker if the surgeon accidently cuts away at a nerve.

Has anyone been through more than one heart surgery? and could you share your experiences please?

Thank you!

 

[zee112]

Sorry guys, I assumed I could post as a guest before but didn't get any kind of confirmation that this post actually posted. Please reply to http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/forum/pre-surgery/862427-second-heart-surgery-nervous

Thank you

 

[RobThatsMe]

Hi zee,
Welcome to the forum. I had a St Judes mechanical aortic valve, surgery with graft, back in March of 2000. Ten years, 2010, later I had to have it replaced due to pannus growth.
I had it replaced with the On-X mechanical valve, as it is designed to deflect pannus growth away from the leaflets. The surgery went fine, no issues, except that I did forget about the recovery process, which quickly came back to the forefront of my memory as I was recovering from the 2nd surgery. some of the normal issues and pain associated with the recovery must have been pushed to the back of my memory, until I re-lived them. But, happily, all went well, and my valve is still doing extremely well.
Good luck with your surgery, stay focused and positive on pushing forward, and bouncing back to 100%.

Rob