Valve Failing?

[deogloria11]

Hi,

Two years ago I had heart surgery to replace my aortic valve with a bovine valve and my ascending aortic aneurysm replaced with a graft. I healed well and have had no complications, other than some dizzy spells and occasional chest pain (usually on the right side, which is weird).

Then two days ago I woke up in misery. All the symptoms I had before my heart surgery had come back with a vengeance. Chest pain, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing...I can't take a deep breath, and it hurts if I try. This is just like when my symptoms first worsened over 2 1/2 years ago, only worse.

At that time, I had gotten pregnant (and didn't know it at first) and I think the pregnancy hormones exponentially worsened my condition almost immediately. (Pregnancy hormones make your connective tissue stretchier, and with BAVD and a bad valve/aneurysm, that's a very bad thing.) Lately, I had noticed that I was having a little bit of shortness of breath, and I was a little concerned, but then BAM, Monday morning I wake up with full blown symptoms.

I had wondered if I am pregnant again (but based on my cycle and the calendar, I shouldn't be), but even if that were the case, since my valve and aneurysm have been fixed, why would the pregnancy hormones affect me this way?

What I'm worried about is that maybe the valve is coming loose. I think I read on here that with women my age (39) our bodies are still changing, and that can affect the fit of the valve. I thought there was another woman on here who had to have her valve re-done after only a year.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? If the valve isn't fitting right, can they just go in laparoscopically and fix it? Or do they have to replace the whole valve again? And if so, do you think I'll have to be cut wide open again and have them cool me/kill me/bring me back again?

What really sucks is...we don't have health insurance anymore. And we just declared bankruptcy. Which means this could completely ruin us...if I can even get the surgery in the first place. Oh yeah, and we moved somewhere that has no good hospitals for about a 1000 mile range. *sigh* Sorry to be such a downer. I'm just freaking out.

 

[njean]

Well, lets take one step at a time here before jumping to conclusions and putting yourself in an even more stressful state of mind.

Get a pregnancy test and confirm that you are indeed not pregnant. If you are, then perhaps your symptoms are related to this and not to your valve working itself loose as you are assuming. Next, make an appointment with your cardiologist and see what he/she has to say and if they recommend doing an Echo or Cath if they think your symptoms are related to your valve or not.

And, personally, I have never heard that age would affect the "fit" of the valve in any way. Some ppl have had mismatched valves implanted but that's an entirely different issue.

I know you said you don't have insurance but rather than guessing at things and stressing yourself out more, go through these steps first.

Wishing you the best and please keep us informed.

 

[nngbwh]

I agree with, Njean. Don't jump to conclusions. First thing you need to do is make an appointment with your cardiologist. Hope everything works out for you. Keep us posted.

 

[Greg a]

Okay so Norma Jean and Nelson have taken all my thunder as to the health insurance I am so sorry that this is just another worry on top of it all.

 

[Superbob]

The others have passed along the advice I would offer -- basically, take it step by step, rather than assuming the worst....I am wishing you well.

 

[kfay]

Are these the same symptoms you talked about having last fall, http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?36658-New-Symptoms-More-Useless-ER-visits? Back then you mentioned that your inflamation marker was up in one of the blood tests they did on you, did you ever follow up with a Dr. then about that? Pericarditis or Dressler's can be recurring and quiet painful. Since you had all of those tests done last fall with similar symptoms and everything else looked good, I'd be inclined to think the valve was probably still fine. Obviously though, no one, not even a Dr. can give you a firm answer about this unless they do some tests that allow them to actually look at the valve.

 

[Jkm7]

I can't add anything to the good advice the others have given but want to pass along my best wishes to you. Hopefully, you'll see your cardio (or another local to you seeing you have moved since your heart surgery) and will get good news.

Let us know how you are doing.

 

[deogloria11]

Well, unfortunately I never test accurately for pregnancy until I'm two weeks late in my cycle. That's thirty days from now. So there's no way to know.

I also can't see a cardiologist, because I don't have insurance and don't qualify for medicaid. For some strange reason, cardiologists like to get paid for their work. :wink2: I love how every time I come to the ER, the doctor tries to convince me to see one. "Do you know any that work for free?" I ask. They still try to talk me into it. :rolleyes2:

My situation has gotten worse as the day has gone on. I decided to go to the ER. I really didn't want to do it, because of the financial strain it will put on the family, but it would be worse if I died, sooooo...here I am.

The doctor says I don't have signs of pericarditis or anything like that, except that some of my chest pain happens when I breathe, and I can't take a full breath. I can't yawn, either. Plus I'm exhausted. But there doesn't seem to be any back pain or pain when he presses on me, and my ankles aren't swollen.

I think that positive inflammation test last year was because I had a sore hip that was causing me trouble, because all the other tests were negative. The doctor is calling a cardiologist right now, and he says they may end up doing an echo or a CT or a chest xray. I guess we'll see.

Don't you miss being in the hospital? :tongue2:

 

[Cooker]

I'm sorry you are in this situation ... I'm NOT a doctor but the first thing that popped into my head was pleurisy ... you symptoms sound a lot like mine when I was diagnosed with pleurisy ... wishing you the best!

 

[Gail in Ca]

I hope you are going to be okay. I remember seeing a sign at Stanford Hospital telling people if they could not afford to see a doctor, to inquire about how they could help you. So, I hope you can ask about any kind of help the hospital can offer you financially. I sympathize. We are now on COBRA, and my husband is hoping the company he was layed off from stays in business, or we will lose the ability to get COBRA.

 

[normofthenorth]

When do the new US health reforms "kick in", and will they help you folks? This journey is tough enough WITH good health insurance. . .

 

[Luana]

Most likely you have a community clinic in your area where you can get low- or no-cost health care, and, hopefully, a referral to a cardiologist so you can have some additional testing done for your valve.

Here's where to find one in your area.

 

[drivetopless]

This is all good advice, so I don't have much to add. I just felt your worry as I read your post, so I wanted to send you some moral support.