About Me (In My Own Words)
In January of 2018 I started getting dizzy. I went to the Dr and was told that there was nothing he could do. I started doing my own research and found that I would get dizzy when I had a chiropractic adjustment done and would be dizzy for a few days and it would resolve itself. I told my chiropractor not to adjust my neck for a few visits and the dizziness went away. Then, in March 2018, I asked him to adjust my neck again. When he did, I told him that he “rung my bell.” After that adjustment I started getting headaches. I didn’t tie the two together at the time. I thought I was having sinus headaches. I started going to a different Dr and they gave me a prednisone injection and antibiotics. The first time they did this it helped. But the headache came back. I went back to the Dr and received another injection and antibiotics. This time it didn’t help. By this time, around the end of April 2018,I decided to go to the emergency room. They did a CT scan of my head to check for a sinus infection, which came up clear. They sent me home with pain pills and told me to make an appt with an ear, nose, throat Dr. I did and was given a high resolution CT scan of my head. It again came back clear. They referred me to an audiologist to be tested for an inner ear infection. That test came back clear. They referred me back to the ear, nose, throat Dr. Before I could get back to see that Dr the headache got so bad I decided to go back to the emergency room. This time my wife insisted they do an MRI. The MRI showed that I had a spinal fluid leak. Spinal fluid had leaked through a tear in the Dura surrounding my brain and spinal column. I stayed in the hospital that night and the next morning they did a blood patch. I was taken to an operating room where they withdrew a syringe of blood from my wrist. Then they injected that blood into my spinal column. The blood formed a “scab” at the tear and helped heal it. It took a while to heal and while at a neurologist appt I said I was still feeling the headache. It wasn’t as bad, but the neurologist referred me to have an MRI done of my entire torso. During the reading of that MRI, they discovered that I had an aneurysm in the ascending aorta. The neurologist referred me to a thoracic surgeon. He looked at the MRI and said he thought I had it from birth and he wasn’t worried about it. He scheduled me for a follow-up in a year and I thought everything was over. My headaches went away and I returned to life as usual. I even started playing tennis again and joined a few men’s leagues.
Fast forward one year.
I went to the cardiologist in May 2019 for a CT Angiogram. I thought that I would hear the same thing I had heard a year before. What I heard was that I did indeed have an aneurysm. It measured 4.9cm. It was caused by the thing I didn’t know about. I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve that was mildly stenotic. I was referred to a thoracic surgeon. On Aug 5 2019 I underwent open heart surgery to replace the aortic valve and repair the aortic aneurysm. I chose a cow valve because I didn’t want to take an anti coagulant for the rest of my life. I was in the hospital from Monday, Aug 5, to Saturday, Aug 10. I was out of work for 8 weeks.
I remember when my wife first told our pastor that I was going to have OHS. He told us to meet him in his study after service. He gathered the elders and anointed my head with oil and they laid their hands on me and prayed for me. That was the first time anyone had ever done that for me and it was moving. It brought great peace and he prayed for me from that day on in every service and after my surgery. I remember the day before my surgery, I had been preparing myself...lots of prayer and reading my Bible...and I went up for communion. I was kind of weepy that morning, but when I got in line for communion I was finally at peace. Our pastor greets everyone when they take communion, and I remember him looking at me and asking me "Are you ready?" And at that moment I knew I WAS ready...no matter what happened. "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ... Philippians 1:21.
My surgeon used LSS sternal plating on me. Very interesting.
http://www.klsmartinnorthamerica.com/products/implants/thoracic/lss/
One of the things I dealt with for the first week was the effects of the anesthesia. It totally destroyed my sense of smell and taste. My Dr said this happens to men mostly and he assured me it would resolve, which it has. For that week, every smell made me sick to my stomach. Everything smells bad... And therefore, everything tasted bad. So I didn't eat much that first week.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Smyrna, TN
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My surgery date is:
August 5, 2019
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
Aortic Aneurysm
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
Aortic Aneurysm Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Ashish Shah
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My hospital is:
Vanderbilt
