Patrick's Profile

I'm 34 years old and when I was 27 years old I found out I had a leaky aortic heart valve. I had switched primary care doctors and the new doctor noticed something unusual when he listened to my heart. I was told to get a test-an echocardiogram (like an ultrasound). I had this test done when I was younger because of a murmor, which wasn't too big of a deal back then. The test came back and I was told to go to a cardiologist. The cardiologist told me that my heart valve was bad and that I would need open-heart surgery very soon. My parents and I found a surgeon and took the test results to him and he said that because I had no symptoms and because of my age that I could hold off on the surgery and it would be monitored yearly with an echocardiogram. I switched cardiologists and have been getting an echocardiogram once a year. I've been symptom-free but have had to change my workouts to low-weight, high reps. At the time, when I was diagnosed, I was shocked and frightened. There is no doubt that I have to have open-heart surgery to replace the valve in my future. The valve will eventually go bad. One of the biggest problems I have is that I have a problem know as vasovagal response, which basically means a phobia of needles, blood, etc. It's a physical response that makes me come close to fainting. I get really hot, sweat profusely, get light-headed, get an upset stomach, and a lot of me goes numb. I can't donate blood because of this. It's hard to even get my blood checked-I avoid it at all costs. I can't even get the echocardiogram (which is non-invasive-they just touch my chest) without taking a Xanex first. When I get my valve replaced, I have a choice of valves. I could get one from an animal (like a cow) or mechanical. The one from the animal lasts 10 years or so and no bloodthinning drug is needed. The Mechanical one lasts over 20 years but I will have to be on a bloodthinning drug, which means getting my blood checked very frequeently. This decision is tough one. I don't want another urgery 10 years later, but I can't get my blood checked frequently either. So now I'm just waiting for the valve to go bad.