Patrick's Posts

As I stated earlier, I had my echo in late February. Right after the echo, the cardiologist's nurse called and said it looks good and to just keep my office visit May 12th and my BO2 Max treadmill test on May 4th. On May 4th, I had the BO2 max test, which is a trip. You're on the treadmill and you breathe into this scuba-type mouth piece the whole time and they just keep increasing the treadmill to see how your heart reacts. I was told the results were above-average and really good. I went into the May 12th appointment thinking it was just going to be the usual, "no change, see you in a year." Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. The Cardiologist comes in (who I really like, good man) and tells me it will be time for the surgery in one year, two years max. Needless to say, I was a bit shocked. I have no symptoms and I thought the tests looked good. He said the Echo showed my heart was still the same size, but the regurgatation (leakiness) was getting worse. I know it could be a lot worse. He could be like, "it's time now," but at least I have some time to prepare more. The Cardiologist and I talked about the different replacement valves and blood thinners. He said the clinical trials for the new blood thinner were complete and extraordinary. He thinks they'll be approved by the FDA in about 6 months. He said this new blood thinner will be a revolutionary step in blood thinning treatment. He said that the new drug will not require the kind of testing the warifan or coumadin does. He said there won't be the common bleeding problems that the traditional blood thinners can have. This is good news, which makes me lean towards the mechanical valve. The hospital I would probably have the surgery at is called Barnes-Jewish and it is a top 10 heart hospital in the country and is about 5 minutes from where I live. I have full confidence in the surgical teams there. I'm not worried about that at all. I knew this day would come eventually, I was just hoping it would be about a decade or more out. I'm good with it. The other journals on here are so helpful and coping would be a different ballgame without them. I'm not good with medical stuff and these journals have made it a lot easier. Thanks.