David's Journal

Good Day All... I'm new to this site and I want to share my experience. I've been tracking my aortic stenosis for a couple of years and watching it closely. Last June, I noticed many of the symptoms I was told to watch for. I'm an avid cyclist and routinely rode 200 to 250 miles each week. I also led group rides for a local bike shop as the "advanced" group leader. After a while, I found I could no longer stay with the advanced group and I was looking to go to bed around 8:30 or 9:00pm. I was fatigued more than normal. My Interventional Cardiologist recognized the symptoms and after an Echocardiogram, recommended a new aortic valve. He is associated with a surgical group who splits the sternum to perform the valve replacement. About a year and a half ago, I was working in the bike shop and showing a nice road bike to a gentleman. We talked about why he was getting into cycling and he said he'd had a aortic valve replaced and was told to refrain from power lifting and find something else so he chose cycling. Once I had him out the door on a test ride, another gentleman walked up and introduced himself. "Michael" told me he worked for St. Jude's hospital and actually sold heart valves. Michael told me about a doctor in Scottsdale, Arizona who performed minimally invasive heart valve replacement surgery and gave me the contact information. Michael also showed me pictures of an actual surgery that the doctor had performed with a 2.5" incision. I believe that everything happens for a reason and I'm glad Michael was present and reached out to me. I drove the 40 miles to Scottsdale and met with Dr. Robert Riley who, after my examine, said I was a candidate for minimally invasive valve replacement surgery. On Sept. 14, 2015, I underwent the surgery (Monday morning) and woke in ICU. I was fully aware of what was happening since I'd been informed of every aspect of the surgery and recovery before it occurred. I left the hospital Thursday afternoon! 3 weeks after my surgery, I saw Dr. Riley who told me I was recovering well and I should forget I ever had valve replacement surgery. (Dr. Riley did tell me to keep my HR down in the 120 range for 2 more weeks but after that, I was clear to exert myself again on the bicycle.) 49 days after my surgery, I rode a 50 mile course in just over 3 hours. My average HR was 114 and my max HR was 133. By the way, I'm 60 years old. I was driving 9 days after surgery and off all pain meds before driving! I'm still working to get back up to the fitness level I had before surgery but that will come. My point...PLEASE, PLEASE check into minimally invasive AVR if that is all you need. I had no other problems...only a bad valve. My recovery has been much easier than what I saw my brother go through with the traditional surgery. Dr. Riley said that about 10% of surgeons use the minimally invasive route and he's been doing it since 2004! I'm riding a lot more these days even though the weather is turning cold here in Arizona. I know I'll be back to my regular mileage in the near future and will be back to riding century rides (100 miles) soon. If you are in the Phoenix area, please check out Dr. Robert Riley in Scottsdale. I have nothing but praise for him and his staff and the hospital he generally uses, Scottsdale Shea. I'm very happy with my experience all the way around.