Good afternoon. I had my aortic valve replaced in 2017, with a St. Jude Trifecta GT bioprosthetic valve. I was informed a little over a year ago that these ...Read more
Good afternoon. I had my aortic valve replaced in 2017, with a St. Jude Trifecta GT bioprosthetic valve. I was informed a little over a year ago that these valves were experiencing Structural Valve Deterioration. Most of these were in the first few years after surgery. Now that I am heading into year 9 (no issues), I was just wondering if anyone has experienced anything or if there is anything I should be aware of? Thanks in advance for your help.
I know this has probably been discussed at some point. I had two back-to-back surgeries in 2017. One in April - 2017 (Cleveland Clinic) where they attempted ...Read more
I know this has probably been discussed at some point. I had two back-to-back surgeries in 2017. One in April - 2017 (Cleveland Clinic) where they attempted to repair my aortic valve. The valve repair failed in July and I went into heart failure. My second surgery was in September - 2017 (Beaumont), where my valve was replaced. My aortic root was slightly enlarged, but it was not repaired. My recovery after the second surgery went great. I had a brief stint of AFIB, but it eventually corrected itself. I am now medication free and feeling great.
My question is, given my history (multiple surgeries, aortic root issues, etc.), does anyone know if I would still be considered an "at risk" person, in terms of COVID-19 and heart related issues?
Marie Myers On the menu above, there is a “Learning Center” . Click on that, then click on “Videos”. Ther ... Read more
Marie Myers On the menu above, there is a “Learning Center” . Click on that, then click on “Videos”. There are several on Covid 19 videos in there.
John Williams Sorry its been a while. A lot happening. I had a T.E.E, and my appointment with my surgeon. He concurred what I my cardiologist had said. Surgery ...Read more
John Williams Sorry its been a while. A lot happening. I had a T.E.E, and my appointment with my surgeon. He concurred what I my cardiologist had said. Surgery is inevitable. Its been set for January 4, unless my symptoms deteriorate further, requiring me to move it up. I had my heart cath yesterday. No blockages, but had to stay overnight due to some pain I experienced. I decided on the pig valve and my surgeon is Dr. Patel at U of M. I heard he is very good and he comes highly recommended. Still nervous, but I am glad I can enjoy the holidays at this point.
My cardiologist recently told me my bicuspid aortic valve is leaking severely. He referred me to a surgeon at the university of michigan for a consultation. ...Read more
My cardiologist recently told me my bicuspid aortic valve is leaking severely. He referred me to a surgeon at the university of michigan for a consultation. He seems to think its inevitable I will need surgery. Does everyone with a severe leak need surgery and how long can I wait?
Billy G Hi John, I am not a doctor and don't know your specific case, but I started heavily reading about/res ... Read more
Billy G Hi John, I am not a doctor and don't know your specific case, but I started heavily reading about/researching about aortic regurgitation in early August when I suspected I had the problem, which was confirmed late August.
From what I have read, surgery is usually recommended if the regurgitation (i.e., leaking) is severe (with or without symptoms) or if it is moderate and you have symptoms.
When your aortic valve is not working properly, your heart has an amazing ability to compensate for the problem, which is why you may not notice symptoms. Unfortunately, however, this is very hard on the heart and can cause irreversible heart damage, which could eventually lead to heart failure.
In my case, the cardiologist noticed that my left ventricle is enlarged. She is not concerned about this because I am an athlete, and athletes sometimes have enlarged hearts. However, she also noticed that my left ventricle is showing signs of thickening, which is definitely not good.
My mindset (for me) is that since my problem is not likely to magically disappear, is already making it harder for me to workout with the intensity that makes me happy, and is starting to damage my heart, there is no sense in putting off the inevitable. The only reason I have not set a surgery date yet (or already had it done) is because I'm wanting to have a consult with some of the surgeons I believe are among the best in the country, which required me to wait some.
Good luck with everything! Surgery is definitely not pleasant to think about, but every time my mind starts to think about the negative side of it, I remind myself I have no choice if I want to continue living a healthy and active life.
Elaine Cutri If you have a leaky aortic valve, they want you to have surgery before the enlargement of the left ve ... Read more
Elaine Cutri If you have a leaky aortic valve, they want you to have surgery before the enlargement of the left ventricle gets too big and the heart muscle is extended past its ability to reduce in size after the repair. Like elastic that has been over stretched. My left ventricle was enlarged before my 1981 surgery, but it went back down to normal size. The trade off is risk of heart injury vs risk of surgery.
Jean Raber John, ditto to everything above. Leaking will eventually lead to your heart getting overworked and do ... Read more
Jean Raber John, ditto to everything above. Leaking will eventually lead to your heart getting overworked and doing permanent damage (= congestive heart failure). I understand your wanting to have more time to process info and make some preparations, and to understand whether the surgery is worth it to you given your age and any other health concerns. So the best person to ask about how long, odds on what happens if you put things off and for how long are your cardiologist and surgeon.
FWIW, I'm sure I drive my cardiologist crazy asking for percentages and odds on various outcomes, but he knows I'll stonewall unless I hear numbers.
Enrique K John, I got diagnosed with aortic regurgitation 3 years ago. It now has progressed to sever aortic re ... Read more
Enrique K John, I got diagnosed with aortic regurgitation 3 years ago. It now has progressed to sever aortic regurgitation and my surgery is scheduled for Oct 9. You don't want to wait more than 30 days For surgery. I concur with Jean, Elaine and Billy get this done ASAP. Your heart will get enlarged and you will start having problems breathing etc and you can have major complications before surgery. I have studied my condition for years now and highly advice to have it sooner than later. Mine is a tricuspid valve and yours bicuspid major difference because you have two leaflets. Good luck!
Paul Taylor Diagnosed with severe aortic regurgitation in August (bicuspid valve). My left ventricle is dilated ... Read more
Paul Taylor Diagnosed with severe aortic regurgitation in August (bicuspid valve). My left ventricle is dilated and weak as a result. Having surgery October 19.
John Williams Thanks everyone. I have known for 20 years this was coming, but still a shock to actually hear the w ... Read more
John Williams Thanks everyone. I have known for 20 years this was coming, but still a shock to actually hear the words "heart surgery." As you might expect I have been researching this as well, especially since receiving the news. Of course I had a vacation scheduled in December. :(
John Williams Billy G. All my kids are competitive swimmers (your photo). Its a small world.
Billy G John, it's kind of funny, but I only once had a sinking feeling/nausea in my gut. Since August, I've ... Read more
Billy G John, it's kind of funny, but I only once had a sinking feeling/nausea in my gut. Since August, I've read nearly everything I could find online (first-hand stories, medical journals, etc.), watched open heart surgeries online, and everything else. None of it bothered me, but then when I called a local surgeon's office and asked how far out the surgeon was booked so I could prepare my life around possible surgery dates, I got nauseous when she replied, "3 weeks, maybe sooner." That's the only brief moment that the reality really sunk in. I don't know if it's better that I'm kind of blocking it out, and maybe I'll break down at some point, but for now, I feel it's best to separate the fact of what I'm about to go through from everything else so I can stay focused on learning everything I need to learn about the process. It's how I get through stressful times in life in general - I can have the most stressful things in the world going on and can block it out to focus on what I need to get done.
I've been a swimmer my whole life. It's just part of who I am. When I was maybe 18 months old, my parents tell me I saw a bunch of older kids jumping off a pier into Lake Michigan. My parents tell me I wanted to do it, too, and that's exactly what I did. I was fortunate to grow up on a lake in Indiana, so I was always in the water swimming, water skiing, jumping out of trees, and more. I swam competitively through college and felt lost afterwards. I moved to Richmond, VA from Chicago for a few years and found a great group of guys in their mid-40s that inspired me and showed me that there are still ways to be competitive in a sport I love for the rest of my life. One of the guys was a former Olympian and was doing things at 46-49 that 18 year olds can't do. From that point on, I started training again and have been putting up lifetime bests in many events in my 30s. Before moving to Las Vegas, I made sure there was a competitive group I could adequately train with. Despite my need to move here for business, I'm not sure I would have done it if I was not comfortable there was a good US Masters swim team here.
How old are your kids and where do they swim?
John Williams Two graduates from college. They both swam for Oakland University. My 13 year old is probably the b ... Read more
John Williams Two graduates from college. They both swam for Oakland University. My 13 year old is probably the best of the bunch though. She is swimming times that would have beat her siblings in college. She is a state champion in Michigan and competed at the Speedo Sectional meet when she was 12. Very fun to watch. Its her passion and I am very proud.
The waiting to talk with the surgeon is brutal. I'm not chomping at the bit, but I also don't want my heart to be damaged either. I had a echo done, which showed a moderate to severe leak. They followed up with a T.E.E. and confirmed the leak was severe. My cardiologist used the words "it's gushing."
I have some symptoms (Fatigue, easily get out of breath going up hills, stairs or exerting myself, heart pounds and flip flops). They did not see an increase in the size of my left ventricle.
I feel ok, the waiting is what kills me. Too many things running through my mind.
Billy G John, that's great that swimming has been such a big part of the life of your children. It's definite ... Read more
Billy G John, that's great that swimming has been such a big part of the life of your children. It's definitely been a huge part of my life, and although I will never force my children (that I don't yet have) to do anything, I hope that they will have a strong interest in sports and further hope that swimming is part of their lives.
It sounds like your situation is similar to mine. One difference is that my left ventricle is showing signs of being slightly enlarged, but the doctors are not too concerned because they think it is a result of my athletic background and how much I workout (well, used to workout before I started having fatigue . . .).
I did have a meeting with a surgeon yesterday in L.A. This is the second surgeon I have met. He said that the regurgitation is definitely severe, and while my heart seems to nonetheless be holding up fairly well, he would definitely fix it sometime this year. That's fine by me because I'm hating the fatigue and would prefer to just do what is inevitable so I can start recovery.
This could change, but I set a surgery date of November 4. I recognize this may be ambitious and won't be disappointed if I don't meet this goal, but my goal is to have at least one lifetime best (or at least be close) in a swim meet in December 2016. If recovery is going well, I may see what I can do around May 2016, but I'll have to see how surgery goes and how soon the doctors let me get back to training. They've all said the hardest part will be for me to take it easy and not push to hard too soon. I'm sure my girlfriend and family will force me to take it easy, but I'm also determined to push as hard as I can as soon as I can if the doctors allow. I sure don't want to have surgery, but since there is no choice, I'm excited to get through it and see how quickly I can get back to my current level of fitness (or better).
John Williams Sorry its been a while. A lot happening. I had a TEE and my appointment with my surgeon. He concurr ... Read more
John Williams Sorry its been a while. A lot happening. I had a TEE and my appointment with my surgeon. He concurred what I my cardiologist had said. Surgery is inevitable. Its been set for January 4, unless my symptoms deteriorate further, requiring me to move it up. I had my heart cath yesterday. No blockages, but had to stay overnight due to some pain I experienced. I decided on the pig valve and my surgeon is Dr. Patel at U of M. I heard he is very good.
I am from: Howell
