John's Posts

My entry in the My Story section tells my story. The short version is that my prosthetic aortic valve from 2007and my cardiologist did not catch it in time. I started suffering shortness of breath, fatigue and fluid retention. At 74, I've never had weight issues, diabetes or anything except a congenitally deformed aortic valve. Up until late 2022, I was riding a road bike 100+ miles a week, walking and going to the gym. It took a year of the cardiologist sending to pulmonologists, electrophysiologists, oncologists, hematologists and gastro people, I went to a different cardiologist and got a referral to a structural cardiac group. They immediately diagnosed my problems to be a failing prosthetic aortic valve. After 2 or 3 months of their testing, I had a TAVR on March 25, 2024. They added Entresto and Jardiance to my meds after the TAVR. My breathing and color improved immediately. 5 days after the TAVR, I walked 1.5 miles without any breathing or heart rate issues. Today I mowed my grass. These were things I hadn't been able to do for months. I have permanent heart damage because the prosthetic valve had apparently been leaking for years. My heart should remodel to some extent. Right now, I feel normal for the first time in 1.5 years. I'm out of shape and lost muscle but hope to gain that back. The unknowns are how much I can improve and whether I can reduce or eliminate some meds. I think my current issues are an ef around 30, enlarged heart, mild cardiac cirrhosis and I guess a diagnosis of chronic heart failure. I wonder if others have seen these conditions reverse when the valve was replaced.