T
terence
Hello again everyone,
Well it's nearly 6 months after surgery and things haven't gone as bad as I feared, nor as great as I hoped.
Initially my recovery went well, I had trouble with memory loss but physically was doing fine. Especially considering I'd had a good chunk of my ascending aorta replaced along with my aortic valve. Indeed, I was already scheming on my return to surfing, when - out of the blue - my arthritis relapsed big time. (This is the reactive arthritis which ruined my valve in the first place).
The arthritis, while slowly (so slowly) getting better, is hard enough, but now I seem to be feeling some, pretty mild, breathlessness. And that's getting me worried. Is the inflammation somewhere near my heart again? and messing things up?
Of course, my breathlessness could just be a consequence of being unfit (I really struggle to walk right now) or the asthma I suffer from. Or I could be panting because I'm in pain. Or I could be noticing my breathing problems as a result of anxiety...
So what I was wondering, was whether any of you knew what causes the breathlessness that comes with a damaged valve?
Is it the dilated heart? Could damage further up my aorta (past the Dacron) be doing it? I'm fairly confident it can't be the valve itself, as I've never heard of titanium becoming inflamed
Anyhow, I know I'm gonna have to ask my doctor, but I thought I'd see if anyone here had any thoughts too.
Well it's nearly 6 months after surgery and things haven't gone as bad as I feared, nor as great as I hoped.
Initially my recovery went well, I had trouble with memory loss but physically was doing fine. Especially considering I'd had a good chunk of my ascending aorta replaced along with my aortic valve. Indeed, I was already scheming on my return to surfing, when - out of the blue - my arthritis relapsed big time. (This is the reactive arthritis which ruined my valve in the first place).
The arthritis, while slowly (so slowly) getting better, is hard enough, but now I seem to be feeling some, pretty mild, breathlessness. And that's getting me worried. Is the inflammation somewhere near my heart again? and messing things up?
Of course, my breathlessness could just be a consequence of being unfit (I really struggle to walk right now) or the asthma I suffer from. Or I could be panting because I'm in pain. Or I could be noticing my breathing problems as a result of anxiety...
So what I was wondering, was whether any of you knew what causes the breathlessness that comes with a damaged valve?
Is it the dilated heart? Could damage further up my aorta (past the Dacron) be doing it? I'm fairly confident it can't be the valve itself, as I've never heard of titanium becoming inflamed
Anyhow, I know I'm gonna have to ask my doctor, but I thought I'd see if anyone here had any thoughts too.
