About Me (In My Own Words)
Here is my story. Hope you all can excuse me the language. Since I am from Norway. My English can be wrong somewhere :-) .
Lets make a short story long.
I am one of these Grown Ups with Congenital Heart defects (GUCH).
I was the smallest kid in school. And I spat blood when I was playing in the school yard with games that demanded little effort.
it was a situation where I was much alone with little friends.
When I was 12 the doctors did find out that there was a weak abnormal sound coming from my heart. (My mother had told them for many years that there was something wrong with her son).
I had my first surgery when I was 14. That was in 1977. For many people this is in the stone age . In the medical world it probably is. At that time I was convinced that I was going to die. It was very frightening for a young teenager.
So in 1977 the surgeons blocked out the aorta with something kalled a Dacron patch. And that really change my way of living. Now I could do all the same things my friend could do. I remember my father said it was God's will .
Many years have passed since then and I have had a good life compared with many other people.
But the last years I have had problems with heavy breathing. thought it maybe was bad condition due to lack of training. I was tired after going from lamppost to lamppost which is approximately 50 meter.
Right before Christmas 2013 I got a letter from the hospital saying that they wanted to check all the grown ups who had a surgery like the one I had.
So i went to the GUCH department at the hospital I January 2014 for control of my heart.
In February 2014 one of the doctors called me at work and he told me that I just had to go home from work and wait for him to arrange an operation as soon as possible.
I am a Bus Driver so I drove my last trip to Oslo and back before I went home.
then it was just to wait for something to happen.
I got time for surgery March 10th 2014.
I must say I was skeptical and afraid. it was a hospital chaplain there who I could talk to. it was a great help to me together with a couple of sedative tablets.
The surgeon who was going to perform the heart surgery came and talked to me before they rolled me into the operating room. That was a big help for me.
I don't remember much after that and before I woke up a little tired and confused.
My fiancee Reidun smiled and asked me what day it is today ?. She told me that I had been in a coma for several days.
The surgeons had replaced the arch of the aorta which is inside the left side of the chest. They also replaced a heart valve ( Perimount Edwards # 25 heart implant).
During the heart surgery I also had a minor stroke. My body also also had problems to absorb oxygen. That's why they put me in coma so my body would recover more easily.
The story wont stop there..
In june i went to the thorax department at the hospital for control of my heart after my surgery.
My plan was to be finished at the hospital as soon as possible and go on vacation.
but these doctors had other plans...
I was wheeled into the room again and they expanded six veins which was too narrow.
I was in the hospital a day before I went on vacation and salmon fishing.
it's a few months ago now and I can do much more than before. Two weeks ago I walked for 7 kilometers.
Now I wait for my drivers license and to get back to work again.
It's like getting your life as a present. a new birthday or something like that.
And maybe I get to see USA. that is my dream.
Buy an old mustang or t-bird
and drive through America with my fiancee Reidun . Then take the car with me home as a summer car.
I've had some thoughts about the heart valve. The surgeon told us that the valve would last for the rest of my life.
And when I read about that type of heart valve it has a expected duration of 20 years.
does this means that I will be 72 years and die?.
or will this valve last for 40 years........
I think i we must leave this to God.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Lier, Norway
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My surgery date is:
March 10, 2014
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
Aortic Aneurysm
Coronary Artery Disease
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Sigurd Birkeland
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My hospital is:
Rikshospitalet, oslo, norway
