Uninformed and will have lots of questions

[noel]

Update

Update

We have been a playing the waiting game...and took a little vacation while doing it. We have asked for a referral to Dr. McGiffin at UAB. The cardiologist office called on Monday to say they had called them. He is out of town this week....and we hope we will hear from him on his return. If not, we are to call the cardio again. Noel is still feeling good...he dug up some crepe myrtle plants and transplanted them today....and tells me he did not get winded...we will feel better when we have a second opinion from a specialist. And we hope this will be forthcoming in the near future.

 

[Phyllis]

Hi Robbie and welcome to our forum. I was away and didn't see your thread until just now. I'm glad that Noel is going to see Dr. McGiffin soon. I know how stressful it is to be the wife in this situation. Dick too, was a very active Senior (70 at the time of surgery) and he was playing tennis, golfing, biking with no symptoms right up until a month before surgery when he fainted on the tennis court- a BIG symptom! We had known for a year or two that his aortic valve was stenotic and had been doing our research in the meantime. It was hard to convince him after the fainting episode that the time was here for AVR. That happened in October and after a couple of surgeon interviews, he was operated on that December. That was the longest two months of my life as although he agreed to give up tennis, he was still riding his bike and I would sit and wait and pray for him to get home! The good news is that now at 73, he is back to everything- tennis, golf, boating, biking and climbing ladders around the house. It seems your husband has had his share of heart problems and has rebounded from those so I can only stress that the sooner the appointment with the surgeon, the better and I am sure he will bounce back from this one as well. Best wishes to you both and please keep us posted.
Phyllis

 

[noel]

Thanks Phyllis

Thanks Phyllis

We have known for probably 5 years that both Noel's Aortic and Mitral Valves were leaking...the mitral valve is the one that is considered severe at the moment. I am hoping and praying that when we see a surgeon and he does some more tests that we will at least know what we are facing. Whether one or both will be replaced. He had his last echo in April and I do feel the cardiologist dropped the ball in not telling us the results until September! So seeing the surgeon is really important at this point. Sometimes you feel like a yo-yo between doctors when you are at heir mercy waiting for call backs, etc. Our cardio is basically the only one in our small town and very very busy and even though she spends a great deal of time with us at our visits, it is very difficult to get call-backs from messages. Frustrating to say the least. Thank you for responding.