Well, that was quick!

[cuoricino]

January 17 I checked myself into the ER with symptoms of early stages of heart failure - learned it was my failing cow valve (which I had gotten in my first AVR in 2009). It is now severely stenotic after years of great check-ups. It really snuck up on me, although I can't say I wasn't in a little bit of denial with the symptoms that had been presenting - primarily shortness of breath.

February 17 I'll be checked in to the hospital and February 18, operation time!

I'm surprised things went so quickly, but I'm really relieved to have a date, and so soon to boot. I've been all over these forums the past few weeks trying to get back into surgery mind frame. Thank you to all who have shared their experiences making this all a little easier as we each take our turns in the operating room.

Can't wait to get my new St. Jude and (hopefully) be done with OHS for good. I'm 36 and normally very active so I can't wait to hit the running trails again, too. Wish me luck.

 

[Agian]

Good luck. You'll be fine.

 

[pellicle]

Hi
Well, as we know SVD is non linear, so it can come on fast.

I hope you have a smooth and uneventful recovery.

I'm sure you'll be running thise trails again soon and the delay of recovery will be in the rear view mirror.

Best Wishes

 

[KatherineA]

Best wishes! Im sure you will be on those trails quickly

 

[Protimenow]

With a good surgical team, and competent support, you probably won't really need good luck. I'm sure that we're all pulling for a successful outcome, and a really easy recovery.

 

[Seaton]

Best wishes for the days ahead and for a good recovery. Looking forward to your updates.

 

[Suckyvalvegurl]

11 years is pretty good for a young person I think, but I hope this passes quickly and you are up and running again very soon.

 

[bizinsider]

January 17 I checked myself into the ER with symptoms of early stages of heart failure - learned it was my failing cow valve (which I had gotten in my first AVR in 2009). It is now severely stenotic after years of great check-ups. It really snuck up on me, although I can't say I wasn't in a little bit of denial with the symptoms that had been presenting - primarily shortness of breath.

February 17 I'll be checked in to the hospital and February 18, operation time!

I'm surprised things went so quickly, but I'm really relieved to have a date, and so soon to boot. I've been all over these forums the past few weeks trying to get back into surgery mind frame. Thank you to all who have shared their experiences making this all a little easier as we each take our turns in the operating room.

Can't wait to get my new St. Jude and (hopefully) be done with OHS for good. I'm 36 and normally very active so I can't wait to hit the running trails again, too. Wish me luck.

Best of luck. Fantastic attitude. I'm having a Bentall-like procedures as well (composite root graft) and my doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, Lars Svensson, told me straight away that with a root the lifespan of the artificial valve will be reduced. At that point they can determine TAVR, or whatever they do if it's 10 years out, when I'm 77. Curious - did they offer you an OHS alternative and if not, why?

Thanks and again, all the best. I'll be 2 weeks behind you.
Herb

 

[cuoricino]

Best of luck. Fantastic attitude. I'm having a Bentall-like procedures as well (composite root graft) and my doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, Lars Svensson, told me straight away that with a root the lifespan of the artificial valve will be reduced. At that point they can determine TAVR, or whatever they do if it's 10 years out, when I'm 77. Curious - did they offer you an OHS alternative and if not, why?

Thanks and again, all the best. I'll be 2 weeks behind you.
Herb

Cheers to having better functioning hearts soon!

So.... as it was explained to me, they might do a mini- sternotomy if possible, but as for other mini-invasive procedures (eg TAVR) my young age and otherwise excellent heart health point towards less long term risk and probability of having to re-operate if I just go with another OHS.

My surgeon did try to sell me on new advancements in tissue valves which might promise 20 years this time instead of 11... but I'm done having kids and I'm mentally prepared to start with life long anti-coagulants so I'd really prefer the route with the least likelihood of reoperation.

I'm curious - what do you mean by the root leading to shorter valve life? I had part of my ascending aorta replaced but kept my coronary arteries attached to my own aortic root. All signs point to them not touching the root/ascending aorta this round and just replacing the valve. Do you have any insight on if keeping my coronary arteries attached to my own root (despite my dacron ascending aorta) might cause problems down the line?

My surgeon says no, but your comment made me wonder if your surgeon said differently.

All the best as you head into surgery soon, too!!

 

[bizinsider]

Cheers to having better functioning hearts soon!

So.... as it was explained to me, they might do a mini- sternotomy if possible, but as for other mini-invasive procedures (eg TAVR) my young age and otherwise excellent heart health point towards less long term risk and probability of having to re-operate if I just go with another OHS.

My surgeon did try to sell me on new advancements in tissue valves which might promise 20 years this time instead of 11... but I'm done having kids and I'm mentally prepared to start with life long anti-coagulants so I'd really prefer the route with the least likelihood of reoperation.

I'm curious - what do you mean by the root leading to shorter valve life? I had part of my ascending aorta replaced but kept my coronary arteries attached to my own aortic root. All signs point to them not touching the root/ascending aorta this round and just replacing the valve. Do you have any insight on if keeping my coronary arteries attached to my own root (despite my dacron ascending aorta) might cause problems down the line?

My surgeon says no, but your comment made me wonder if your surgeon said differently.

All the best as you head into surgery soon, too!!

Haha, I'm the last guy to listen to on this stuff. In my case the graft will involve my coronary arteries. I won the lottery! His point, if I understood him correctly, that this kind of composite root graft can lead to a shorter life of a bioprosthetic valve, which at my age is what I would choose. Your age, not so much, based on everything I've heard.

 

[daVinci]

January 17 I checked myself into the ER with symptoms of early stages of heart failure - learned it was my failing cow valve (which I had gotten in my first AVR in 2009). It is now severely stenotic after years of great check-ups. It really snuck up on me, although I can't say I wasn't in a little bit of denial with the symptoms that had been presenting - primarily shortness of breath.

February 17 I'll be checked in to the hospital and February 18, operation time!

I'm surprised things went so quickly, but I'm really relieved to have a date, and so soon to boot. I've been all over these forums the past few weeks trying to get back into surgery mind frame. Thank you to all who have shared their experiences making this all a little easier as we each take our turns in the operating room.

Can't wait to get my new St. Jude and (hopefully) be done with OHS for good. I'm 36 and normally very active so I can't wait to hit the running trails again, too. Wish me luck.

So reassuring to hear your story and how you managed to have a family after your first valve replacement, I hope to follow a similar path.

All the very best for round two. Hope your recovery is smooth and you get back to doing what you enjoy quickly!

 

[nobog]

The valve is the valve and the root is the root - don't know why one would impact the other. Tissue valves wear out from pressure - or calcium - or something - but not from a Dacron root. 20 years? He's (she) is telling you something you want to hear.

 

[cuoricino]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!!

So reassuring to hear your story and how you managed to have a family after your first valve replacement, I hope to follow a similar path.

All the very best for round two. Hope your recovery is smooth and you get back to doing what you enjoy quickly!

Welcome to this crazy world, daVinci! Feel free to snoop around my profile and my old posts as it looks like you are going through a very similar situation I went through as well. It's certainly not a fun thing to go through in your mid-20's but you've found a perfect place to serve as your sounding board - I love these forums! I've lived most of the past 10.5 years with my tissue valve completely normally. I was (until recently) very active, running several half marathons a year, snowboarding, hiking, you name it. I was back at work 1 month post-op the first time.

My decision to go with tissue was 100% because I wanted the possibility of children. I had my beautiful daughter 4 years after my OHS and everything went completely fine (they considered me "high risk" so I even got more sonograms covered than normal. ) With surgery #2 staring me in the face, I just have to look at my thriving 6 year old to understand I made the right choice all those years ago.

I'm mostly struggling right now with the realization that I'm really sick. I've been experiencing shortness of breath with activity for months, and now shortness of breath at rest for the past several weeks. My stubborn self did not want to admit how sick I was, though. I feel trapped in a body I don't recognize and I can't wait to start the road to recovery. Onward!

 

[pellicle]

feel trapped in a body I don't recognize and I can't wait to start the road to recovery.

Our bodies often betray us and try to kill us. Happily treatment and recovery is much less fraught for us than for those who have cancers. Now that's a battle. Two of my closest friends lost that fight, I'm still here, but of course will go eventually. It's all about making being here better

 

[daVinci]

Thanks for the encouragement everyone!!



Welcome to this crazy world, daVinci! Feel free to snoop around my profile and my old posts as it looks like you are going through a very similar situation I went through as well. It's certainly not a fun thing to go through in your mid-20's but you've found a perfect place to serve as your sounding board - I love these forums! I've lived most of the past 10.5 years with my tissue valve completely normally. I was (until recently) very active, running several half marathons a year, snowboarding, hiking, you name it. I was back at work 1 month post-op the first time.

My decision to go with tissue was 100% because I wanted the possibility of children. I had my beautiful daughter 4 years after my OHS and everything went completely fine (they considered me "high risk" so I even got more sonograms covered than normal. ) With surgery #2 staring me in the face, I just have to look at my thriving 6 year old to understand I made the right choice all those years ago.

I'm mostly struggling right now with the realization that I'm really sick. I've been experiencing shortness of breath with activity for months, and now shortness of breath at rest for the past several weeks. My stubborn self did not want to admit how sick I was, though. I feel trapped in a body I don't recognize and I can't wait to start the road to recovery. Onward!

Will most certainly have a snoop, I instinctively feel I'm now in the severe range and won't have much long left where I'll be able to remain operation-free. I just can't keep up like I used to climbing and hiking and my heart rate increases significantly more going up a small flight of stairs than it did a few years ago. So will be following a very similar trajectory I expect, tissue valve and all.

I'm sorry to hear you're so symptomatic, but it's great that you've been living such a full and active life and that'll all be on your horizon again. A sweet reward.

Will be thinking of you next week and will check back here to see how you're doing, please update! Fingers crossed your recovery is a quick one again and it's not long until you can breathe easy.

 

[Catie]

Cuoricino, I hate that you're suffering such intense symptoms and need another surgery. But wishing you super smooth sailing with your procedure and all recovery!

 

[Catie]

Bizinsider, I had not been told that a new root would decrease the life of a bio valve. My root is porcine and this may help explain my own experience. Of all people, Dr. Svennson should know. Wow.

 

[DachsieMom]

Best of luck! I was 41 - just shy of 42- with two young children when I had my St Jude aortic valve conduit put in (I believe via Bentall. Coming up on my 5 year anniversary!

 

[cuoricino]

Made it through surgery like a champ. Was out of surgery by about 1pm and it was still afternoon when I got my breathing tube removed. Since then it's just been one tube/IV line after another that's been going. Good riddens.

Still a little hard to concentrate but I plan on creating an AVR 1 vs AVR 2 thread post surgery once I have my wits about me. Didn't realize how different things would be this time around!! Will probably be in hospital a few more days.

Back to bed

 

[Catie]

Congratulations to you, cuoricino! Keep right on healing and getting stronger!