Rahul's Journal

Sophia Ridley  Hi Rahul, I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing this. My advice is to tell your doctor and follow his advice, you don't mention if you're having annual check ups with a cardiologist. If you do need surgery then I would seek a second opinion if you're not satisfied with the reasons.

I use the Azumio heart rate trace app which convinced me that I needed to do something. I also have a BP monitor so started casually checking my obs when I had very focused chest pain (as if someone was pushing their thumb through my chest) and palpitations - I'm glad that this made me visit the GP as my MV murmur had gone from mild (never checked) to severe and needed to be addressed. The option to avoid surgery is never really an option if it needs to be done.

My husband has confessed that he's had some chest pain and I'm marching him to the GP tomorrow morning... Best to check out than worry yourself sick.

  I agree with Sophia. Definitely talk to your doctor about it. I would also log the days, time and symptoms so you can monitor how often and severe they are. Best wishes.

Wanda Mroz  Agree with both. Don't wait . The longer you wait the worse it gets and it will start to affect the rest of your heart. It is scary yes, but the option is there is none. Get it done if need be and live your life. Get opinions and ask questions here. A lot of us can help and have been through it. Please.

Kimberly Biddick  This is definitely something you want to consult your doctor about. They have guidelines and parameters that your heart must meet before they schedule you for a valve replacement, so rest assured if they schedule you, you NEED to have it done. Remember this is your heart... definitely nothing to mess around with! I wish you all the best!!!

John Jones  My valve replacement was done on July, 6. The worst pain I have had was the drain tubes after surgery. I have some soreness from awkward sleeping positions. But I feel any of the pain I have suffered has been well worth it in that I can now proceed with life with a healthier heart. So, the pain for me has been much less than I anticipated

Heather Wilson  I agree the bad days were worth the improvement. For me the first day post op was the worst and all days after that were slowly better. By 2 weeks post op it was much better. Four months post op I have only some random nerve pain near my incision site (for me a right anterior thoracotomy for AVR).

Tammy Pilcher  Rahul, I had my bicuspid aortic valve replaced almost nine months ago. I also had an aortic root enlargement at the same time. I had minimal pain and it was manageable with Tylenol. My chest was numb for a long time, so I think that helped. The feeling slowly came back in. The pain I had was in my shoulder blades and Tylenol worked for me. Everyone's different, but for me it really wasn't as bad as I anticipated. I wrote about my surgery experience in my journal. You are welcome to read it and if I can answer any questions, I will. God bless!

Bill Keefe  I'm scheduled for my surgery in about a month and this has been a concern of mine also. My surgeon claims that there is less pain from this surgery than there is from a joint replacement like a hip or knee. Can anyone else comment?

Meredith Bray  It was less a distinct pain than an all-over body soreness. There were a few times in the hospital, the day after surgery and the next day after that, when the nurses were helping me move around that I had twinges of pain. They were maybe a 6 on a scale of 1-10, and were flashes, not constant. I had surgery on Wednesday, and took my last narcotic on Friday morning, in preparation for the drain tube removal. I took acetaminophen for the next week or so.

Kim Schurman  I had a mechanical aortic valve replacement and aortic graft on June 18 and I was worried about pain issues as well but it was nothing like I imagined (in a good way). The worst was from neck and shoulder pain from sleeping positions and removal of chest tubes which was improved with Tylenol and I have had no chest pains otherwise just some tenderness over incision site which is expected. I was very nauseous with narcotics so those were discontinued early on. BTW this is my first surgery at age 36. I think you will be fine and worrying about it will not change anything and will just make you more anxious. I was the patient that couldn't stop crying in the operating room before they put me under anesthesia- don't be like me ; )

Mary K  I had an aortic valve replacement June 19. The pain from the chest incision was surprisingly minimal. The chest tube incisions were more painful, that pain was managed with Tramadol. One of your rights as a patient is pain control. My nurses were fantastic in responding to my needs. I was surprised at how much pain medication I took, with minimal side effects.

Four weeks out I am having some pain in my wound area and around my ribs. I am managing it well with consistent Tylenol use.

Rich Brobst, Jr  I have had two open heart surgeries. One in 1967 and one in 2010. When I was a child in 1967 the worst pain was the constant shots for testing. On the day before my surgery, I had to be restrained by four nurses to obtain my blood test. I had had enough blood taken at that time. The second discomfort was being shaved from my knees to my neck. As a child there was not much hair there, more like peach fuzz. Fortunately in 2010 shaving has improved significantly. This was only mildly uncomfortable. I experienced mild discomfort prior to surgery, blood test and all. After surgery I do not remember significant pain except for two incidents. At one time in the hospital I had a coughing session and I thought I would open my chest. I was experiencing pain and great fear at the same time. When the nurse assured me that it would be impossible to overcome the metal sutures I felt relieved. The second time I was at home and I watched a funny movie. I was in pain and laughing! I feel that a positive attitude and faith help the body to relax. The more relaxed you are, the less pain you experience. I focused on sharing positive messages with anyone I came in contact with. This helped to keep me from focusing on myself.

Laura Metrano  For me pain was very manageable, not at all what one might imagine. Sore upper back muscles and moderate achey feeling in chest. I was told to 'stay ahead of the pain' and not be shy about asking for meds. The nurses were very attentive. In ICU I could also press a button to self administer through my IV. Make sure you know who is in charge of pain management when you leave the hospital, in my case it was the surgeon. I continued to take a percocet for 4-5 weeks when needed at night. They say the body heals better when not in pain. Doctors and nurses take it seriously. It's not something you need to worry about. You will do great!!

Bob M  Please review my story and my journal. For me, the pain was way less than what I expected ... No more than 3.

Suzanne Hunter  Pain is kept well under control . I agree with Bob no more than 3. You are a little uncomfortable around the incision but nothing major.

Bill Hendrickson  No more than 3 for two days then 2 for about a week. All bets are off if you sneeze, then you hold the heart pillow very tight! Ugh!!

Ericka Carlson  I was unusual with extreme pain, for me it was a 10 for the first few days, even 4 weeks out I'm still very uncomfortable. Everyone is different, I'm lucky that pain was my only complication, my heart valve was perfect.

I don't want you to worry, just understand that every valve replacement is different. I kind of freaked out because everyone else here seemed to have such an easy time with the pain, I was worried there was something really wrong with me. But no, that's just my body. My scar is almost invisible already and as I said, the valve is perfect, so the pain is just an inconvenience. :)

Rahul Ram  Thanks for all your responses, its quite comforting to hear that probably the pain wont be too bad..

Can i request more people to post their view on this so that it would be helpful for those patients who are waiting for their surgeries!

Mary K  How about a visit to a highly regarded cardiologist? Knowing exactly what the problem is will help you to know what the next right step is. Sooner is better than later.

I felt at first as you do. Then my symptoms devolved to a near critical state. No one is thrilled to have heart surgery, but I will be grateful to have the problems fixed so that I may go on with the rest of my life. Without surgery, I know that there would be quite a short "rest of my life".

By the way, I loved Bangalore, went to visit Puttaparti many years ago.

Bill Cherry  I agree with Mary. You need to know exactly what the problem is. It may be totally different than what you are thinking. Knowledge is power & all the medical information is kept confidential. Then you can make an informed decision and there is less stress from fear of the unknown.

I was initially afraid of surgery also. Many people including one of the doctors in the cath. lab helped me greatly. There are many loving people just waiting to help you.

Ray Lockhart  As Mary K and Bill have said you should see a cardiologist now. The fact that your aortic valve was replacemed many years ago really suggests you need to attend to this. It could be a lot of different things. Find out now so you can make whatever plans are appropriate and move on.

Gerald Schaffer  I would get checked out by a cardiologist. You might just need some medication.

Keep in mind if you need surgery and you put it off your heart will be damaged and you will eventually need the surgery or die and by waiting you've made the surgery riskier.

Tammy Pilcher  Rahul, everyone is right, you really do need to see your doctor. I was having symptoms too, but didn't know I had a bicuspid aortic valve. I thought I had asthma that was getting worse. By the time my problem was diagnosed, it was critical stenosis at 0.39cm2 AVA. I had my surgery to replace it three weeks later. I was out of the hospital on the fourth day after surgery and have done great. It really wasn't as bad as I anticipated and it saved my life. So, don't put it off. Prayers and best wishes! God bless you!

Nancy D  We can't ignore symptoms like that and wish it away. Untreated heart problems can and do lead to severe problems- including sudden death. When I realized that, surgery became life saving and I couldn't get there quickly enough. I hope your issues aren't that severe, but you won't know if you don't go. Be seen, As Soon As Possible, even if that means going to the Emergency Room! Please take care of you now !

Jeanette Davidson   I agree with all the posts here. I would not delay. For me I would be heading right to the ER !❤️