{"id":594,"date":"2008-10-03T08:36:41","date_gmt":"2008-10-03T13:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2008\/10\/03\/bicuspid-valve-replacement-tamponade-and-heart-failure-adventure\/"},"modified":"2019-02-26T22:07:30","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T03:07:30","slug":"bicuspid-valve-replacement-tamponade-and-heart-failure-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2008\/10\/03\/bicuspid-valve-replacement-tamponade-and-heart-failure-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim’s Heart Surgery Adventure… Bicuspid Valve Replacement, Tamponade And Heart Failure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talk about twists and turns during the early recovery from bicuspid aortic valve replacement surgery. Jim from Alabama has quite the tale to tell… Here is what he writes:<\/p>\n

Hey Adam,<\/p>\n

First, I’d like to say how much I appreciate you and your heart surgery book. You provided my family and I with great information and gave us some peace of mind prior to my surgery and even now as I recover.<\/p>\n

My story really started about 5 years ago when I, and some medical folks, thought I had a heart attack. When the smoke cleared, I was diagnosed with bicuspid aortic valve stenosis. I guess the alleged heart attack (or “episode” as the cardiologist called it) was a warning shot that something was wrong with my heart. I was perplexed as to how I could have a congenital heart problem after serving 21 years in the Air Force and never being told I had an issue or even a murmur. Of course, now I understand. (To learn more about bicuspid valves, click here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/div>\n
Jim – Bicuspid Aortic Valve Replacement Patient<\/div>\n

  <\/p>\n

Fast forward to June 2008…<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After having my annual check-up, the cardiologist contacted me and said it was time to seriously persue a consult with a surgeon. The valve opening had deteriorated to .85 from the previous years 1.1 reading. Obviously, this was a rude awakening, as I wasn’t having any symptoms – no shortness of breath or chest pain. I though I would be 65 or so before it needed to be replaced. For information purposes, I’m 48.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, I came across your book in researching the procedure. Armed with a notebook of information and questions, I met with the surgeon in July and decided on the St. Jude Mechanical Valve.<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

\"St.
\nSt. Jude Medical Mechanical Heart Valve Replacement<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

My cardiac catheterization procedure<\/a> was scheduled for 11 August (no blockages) with the surgery being on the 12th. The procedure only lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes with the only issue being that I bled more than normal when the surgeon opened me up. I was in the ICU for about 24 hours and then moved to a private room. The rest of my hospital stay was the normal activities of walking, breathing treatments and being poked and proded every couple of hours. I was released on Saturday the 16th and was ready to get some well deserved and needed rest.<\/div>\n

On Wednesday, following my release from the hospital, I started feeling nauseous which progressed as the week went on. I was having hot flashes that were immediately followed by cold spells. My heart felt like it was fluttering. My food intake decreased due to the nausea and by Saturday, I was vomiting everything I did try to eat. My blood pressure was also extremely low and breathing became laborious. I had never felt this badly and wished it would stop or that it would stop me (if you know what I mean).<\/p>\n

I wound up in the emergency room Monday morning the 25th and was admitted AGAIN. I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. My kidneys weren’t functioning properly and my INR was classified as “extremely high” at 8 . I was dehydrated. They did an echo which revealed tamponade, and I was prepped for emergency surgery.<\/p>\n

I underwent a pericardial window and they drained a whole liter of bloody fluid from around my heart. This time I was in the ICU until Thursday.<\/p>\n

The nurses were rather reluctant to encourage my recovery considering all that I had been through. I felt like I was being treated with kid gloves, which kinda concerned me.<\/p>\n

I decided to take it upon myself to get moving, so I started to walk around, which surprised but pleased the nursing staff. I noticed that I did not have the stamina to walk as much as I did before but I kept forcing myself to keep trying. My appetite started to return (even though some things just didn’t taste right) and I gained more strength and walked more and more.<\/p>\n

By Saturday the 30th, the doctor said I was well enough to be released. I was very apprehensive about going home. What if something happened? At least in the hospital they could take care of me. I reluctantly left the hospital to start my second attempt at recovery. The first couple of days at home I was very nervous, but as time passed I gained confidence and started thinking and acting more positively.<\/p>\n

I read your book again to help me realize I wasn’t alone and I even feel better just sharing my experience.<\/p>\n

Now… Five weeks after the second surgery – I am driving, eating well, and getting compliments about good I’m getting around and how much better I look. I still find it hard to believe that I’ve had open heart surgery but as each day passes, I get stronger and stronger and am acting like my old self again. I anxiously work toward the day that I can take up the activities I enjoy and refuse to let myself get whipped by this experience.<\/p>\n

  <\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/div>\n
Dr. Stephen Kwan – Jim’s Heart Surgeon<\/div>\n

  <\/p>\n

Thank you and everyone else in your blog for sharing their experiences! I also wish to thank my surgeon, Dr. Stephen K. Kwan<\/a> and the nursing staff at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, Alabama.<\/p>\n

Jim Cummings<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bicuspid-aortic-valve"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}