John's Guestbook

John Thomas  Randa:
Sorry to hear that we seem to have shared a similar experience 20 yrs ago.

For me, all of my docs concur that my treatment for a significant Hodgkin's tumor in my chest in 1988-89 is the reason for my heart failure today. But to be fair it was all they had to offer at the time, and frankly I was glad to get it as I remember how awful I felt. It made this heart stuff pale in comparison.

Going into the surgery the biggest concern was not whether the surgery would be a success but how difficult it would be to get into a position to facilitate all the work that needed to be done once they opened my chest. The primary concern seemed to be regarding my pericardial sac having dried up and become something like a glued latex to the heart itself. It would have to be peeled back first.

As one of two significant blessings during the surgery, once they got in... they determined my pericardial sac was not in fact dry but somewhat functional. thus not creating the extra work they had previously envisioned.

One last thing that I'm sure your doctors will do with a heart catheter prior to surgery is scout the arteries on your heart. My heart catheter determined that I also needed a bypass for a narrowed artery (also caused by the radiation). This sounds like an additional large procedure, but from the doctor's point of view it only made sense to address that issue when they addressed the others.

Hope this helps,

Feel free to drop me a line anytime.

JT

John Thomas  Randa: For me, I went in fully expecting two mechanical valves as 1) my age pushed me towards the longest lasting valve possible for my aortic stenosis and 2) my pre-op heart cath indicated that the measurement of my mitral valve distance almost insisted upon a mechanical valve.

However, in the end and I guess that is all it ever comes down to, the doc was well into the surgery and determined that my mitral valve was repairable. Sooo... I came out with an aortic mechanical valve and a mitral valve repair.

It was a great piece of news once I was out, as my research always turned up comments that a replacement and a repair were much more preferable vs. two valve replacements.

Hope this helps, Rock on!

JT

John Thomas  Hi Ruth: This is a situation that is related to how my heart came to be problematic in the first place.

When I was in HS, had to have radiation treatment on a Hodgkins tumor in my chest. The radiation greatly reduced the tumor but significantly affected my heart as well. The result was 1) the damage to my aortic valve and 2) damage to some of the arteries on the heart as well. One artery was significantly narrowed and less elastic from the radiation. That combined with age and the choices of young adult hood (i.e. tex-mex every other day of my life) and I needed a bypass.

Thus the leg that is wrapped is where they harvested the vein used in my bypass. To be honest, for me, the leg has hurt worse than anything associated with the heart surgery. I may throw up a pic of that little piece of art work, so people can know what to expect there as well.

Hope this helped, Rock On!

JT