About Me (In My Own Words)
In the winter of last year I began seeing a neurologist due to TIA symptoms (mini-stroke symptoms). We were never able to get to the bottom of my symptoms and so we stopped diagnostic work (and never did a heart workup).
Several months later, I was riding my bike on a 12 mile bike ride during lunch on 5/31/2019 when my arm cramped up. It was so painful that I went to the ER. The ER determined it was a blood clot shutting off the flow of blood to my arm. I had no pulse on my right wrist. After emergency surgery to save my arm further tests were done because the vascular surgeon thought I may have a tumor on my heart.
After further tests the doctor diagnosed me with fibroelastoma on my aortic valve which they thought required immediate open heart surgery. I was terrified! Due to a blood clotting disorder the surgery was delayed a few days (to get me off of blood thinner). I had little choice but to get the surgery done locally (Nashville) but was able to get a second opinion from Dr Gilinov at the Cleveland Clinic prior to committing to surgery.
My surgeon at St Thomas West (Dr Ramaiah) was wonderful and things went as well as could be expected (4 hour surgery; 2.5 hours on the bypass). During recovery, the nurses loved my room because it smelled so nice (so I got really good service). My wife brought her essential oil diffuser and filled the room with wonderful aromas! Unfortunately I went into atrial fibulation the day I was going to be released so they kept me at the hospital for another day of observation and unfortunately put me on some strong afib medication. I was released after 12 full days in the hospital (12 days after my bike ride).
Pathology reports came back as a calcified blood clot (no fibroelastoma). Cleveland Clinic also confirmed this (I ended up going to Cleveland Clinic for second opinions on everything). Factor 5 Leiden may have played a part in my problem but I may never know the real cause. Even the cardiologists at Cleveland Clinic weren't sure exactly what had happened to me (or why it happened).
The best thing that got me going again was cardiac rehab and work. I started working at home after about 2 weeks (just a few hours a day) and I started cardiac rehab after 6 weeks and that was wonderful. I think when I started rehab everyone felt sorry for me in my rehab group since I was by far the youngest person there (56 years old). By the 5th week of my rehab, however, I started running on the treadmill to get my heart rate up and after that I ran during every rehab session. My fellow rehab patients were no longer feeling sorry for me. :)
4 months post surgery I ran my first 5K! I would really like to get back to biking but I am on Eliquis (blood thinner) and have mixed feelings about biking. I hope to start up, somehow, this spring.
God has been good through all of this. It is almost unheard of for blood clots to go from the heart to the right arm. They almost always go to the brain and if they would have I would likely not be alive today. I am so thankful for that. I am also thankful that I escaped the so common post-cardiac surgery depression. I have had my moments (and still do) but with such wonderful support from my friends, my family, and my church things have gone very well.
I have simplified my life greatly, but am finishing a professional designation this spring that I was working on when this happened. I am continuing to run my business but am taking more time off and taking more vacations. This website has been a great encouragement throughout my journey.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Hartsville, Tennessee
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My surgery date is:
June 6, 2019
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Chandrashekhar Ramaiah
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My hospital is:
Saint Thomas West Hospital
