Re-valve time!

Octafish

Just wanted to off-load an exciting and somewhat profound week. I've been home 5 days now having undergone a spot of open-heart surgery last week . It all started with my GP picking up a heart murmur in Feb this year. I had no real symptoms other than getting a bit knackered out after quickly running up and down stairs several times after my daughter. I had put it down to a lack of fitness and was starting to get back into cycling to solve this. Anyway, GP said it might be nothing to worry about, but that I should have an ECG and echo-cardiogram.

Unfortunately, tests showed that I had a highly restricted aortic valve and 'extreme aortic stenosis'. I apparently set a record in the local heart department for just how restricted my aortic valve was. My consultant estimated my heart was having to pump with 3-4 times the force of a normal heart and as a result had become enlarged. I think he was shocked I could stand without passing out let alone walk into his office.

Apparently I was born with a badly formed valve that had just two flaps rather than the usual Mercedes Benz badge style three. Somehow I'd got to 43 without this ever being picked up, but it was now an issue and I needed a replacement valve and some open heart surgery . I underwent surgery and had a new valve fitted a week ago last Monday. Pretty amazing stuff, it's made out of pig or cow heart tissue (I like a bit of Beefheart!) - I should have asked if they had any Mullard NOS.

The couple of days following the op were pretty weird and other-worldly. When I came round in ICU I thought I was laying in some ice chamber, everything seemed bright silver and white, there was Japanese nurse sitting at the end of my bed and I had trouble focusing on anything for more than a few seconds. Looking back it was like something out of a David Cronenburg or Lynch film. Fortunately I wasn't too distressed as I was absolutely shit-faced on morphine. They had told me I'd be given a button to press to self-administer the morphine and I'm pretty certain my first words to the nurse were "where's the button, gimme the button!".

After about 12 hours in ICU I was moved to a ward and spent the next 24 hours pressing away on 'the button' watching shitloads of Youtube stuff on my phone. By Wednesday I was taken off the morphine, moved to a side room, allowed to get up and walk around and have my partner visit. After she left I had a bit of mental collapse as I guess I was having morphine withdrawal/come down and hadn't slept for about 54 hours. I had the most overwhelming feeling of Deja Vu of having been in the room before and I started to think I wasn't even in a hospital anymore, I was trapped in a room in an empty building and that 'they' were out to get me. I even considered calling my partner at one point and telling her she had to "get me the fuck out of here". Fortunately a kind nurse talked me down and got me to lay down and relax and I then slept on and off for 12 hours and felt a lot more sane upon waking on Thursday morning.

Thursday was spent having more tests, doing some more walking and having the last few wires pulled out of me and the 're-opening of my bowels'. Come Friday morning I was told I was doing very well and, pending blood test results, I could go home. I was discharged Friday afternoon just four days after surgery. Now home I have a monster scar down the centre of my chest and can't lift anything heavier than a half kettle of water or drive for the next six weeks. Standing with a guitar is out of the question probably for 12 weeks, but who cares, I'm just happy to have survived and got home to my partner and daughter and I'm now trying to relax and slowly rebuild my fitness with short walks. It was one hell of an experience!

munckee

Fuck. Just Fuck. 

Octafish

munckee said:

Fuck. Just Fuck. 

Ha, yeah that did go through my mind once or twice. Even more scary considering that I'd always had very good blood pressure and resting heart rate - 54 bpm, which is apparently athlete level for a 43 year old. My consultant said although my blood pressure might have been good at my arm it would be sky high in my heart and that untreated the heart would've enlarged to the point of not being able to move, I would have gone into cardiac arrest and been hard to save

GuyR

The whole episode sounds thoroughly disagreeable. Apart from possibly the morphine bit.  I wish you a full and rapid recovery

munckee

Octafish said:

munckee said:

Fuck. Just Fuck. 

Ha, yeah that did go through my mind once or twice. Even more scary considering that I'd always had very good blood pressure and resting heart rate - 54 bpm, which is apparently athlete level for a 43 year old. My consultant said although my blood pressure might have been good at my arm it would be sky high in my heart and that untreated the heart would've enlarged to the point of not being able to move, I would have gone into cardiac arrest and been hard to save

Thank fuck they found it will you need this again?

scrumhalf

Welcome to the club. I had a quadruple bypass ten months ago. It withstood both the Ajax-Spurs Champions League semi-final and the cricket World Cup final so I'm assuming all is well. I was finding walking uphill a bit more of an effort than it should have been. Apparently I was less than a year away from a heart attack, so I dodged a bullet.

I bought a travel kettle, and if I say so myself it was an inspired decision if I say so myself (I was on a three-month lifting embargo). Not doing any cleaning or tidying wasn't a problem (I live on my own). Make sure you continue to go out and about, it won't take long before you can walk a decent distance.

Have you been put on a rehab list? If so, it's very important to go, if only because it will reassure you that you are not about to fall to bits and are not as delicate as you think you might be. There's also a bit of gallows humour amongst the participants.

Hope the recovery continues well.

Philtre

That is one fuck of a neon meate dream.

Hope your recovery goes well. Take it easy, man.

Octafish

munckee said:

Octafish said:

munckee said:

Fuck. Just Fuck. 

Ha, yeah that did go through my mind once or twice. Even more scary considering that I'd always had very good blood pressure and resting heart rate - 54 bpm, which is apparently athlete level for a 43 year old. My consultant said although my blood pressure might have been good at my arm it would be sky high in my heart and that untreated the heart would've enlarged to the point of not being able to move, I would have gone into cardiac arrest and been hard to save

Thank fuck they found it will you need this again?

Yeah, tissue valve last about 15 years. My consultant is pretty confident they will being it through main artery (local anesthetic and no open heart surgery) by then. In fact they already are in the US with older patients, it's what Mick Jagger  had done recently. I could have had a long lasting mechanical valve, but that would require me to take warfarin for the rest of my life and I do too many things that risk getting cut/bruised (working on old cars, DIY/building work) and also have psoriasis which can sometimes bleed.

fastonebaz

I like the sound of a morphine dream.  

Octafish

scrumhalf said:

Welcome to the club. I had a quadruple bypass ten months ago. It withstood both the Ajax-Spurs Champions League semi-final and the cricket World Cup final so I'm assuming all is well. I was finding walking uphill a bit more of an effort than it should have been. Apparently I was less than a year away from a heart attack, so I dodged a bullet.

I bought a travel kettle, and if I say so myself it was an inspired decision if I say so myself (I was on a three-month lifting embargo). Not doing any cleaning or tidying wasn't a problem (I live on my own). Make sure you continue to go out and about, it won't take long before you can walk a decent distance.

Have you been put on a rehab list? If so, it's very important to go, if only because it will reassure you that you are not about to fall to bits and are not as delicate as you think you might be. There's also a bit of gallows humour amongst the participants.

Hope the recovery continues well.

Thanks, good to hear you've been doing well. I gave up work to look after my daughter four years ago, became less active and put on half a stone. The few mild symtoms I did have I put down to being out of shape. I had got back into cycling four or so miles 3-4 times a week just before I got diagnosed. My consultant told me to immediately stop as I was at risk of blackout which wouldn't be good whilst cycling along a busy road. Being born with the defective valve meant my condition had very, very slowly crept up on me over many years, so wasn't really obvious. In maybe the last ten or so years I had become more aware I could often hear my heart beating loudly at times, but I assumed that was normal. It's a lot quieter now.

Hospital said I should be contacted by rehab by mid-week next week. I did at first have a few times at night where I became paranoid the new valve might just fall out. I've also got a bit freaked out at times that I might split open my wired-together breast bone before it heals. Your first few months must have been very hard-going living alone. I'm very lucky to have the support of my partner and also that she's a teacher so she is off work for another 5 weeks. I do like a bit of gallows humour, I joked to my band that the last few gigs before my op (which maybe I shouldn't have been doing) were the 'farewell tour'.

simonk

Wow! Amazing what they can do these days really. All the best for a speedy recuperation dude.

Nitefly

Wow, that's one hell of a ride!  All the best for a full and speedy recovery!

tony99

Well done mate, get well soon!!

Strat_a_tat_tat

Wishing you a speedy recovery

SNAKEBITE

Brilliant news you are on the mend.

No doubt about it, science is the shit.

The NHS is a wonderful thing and it is these stories that need to shoved down the throats of the arseholes who want to destroy it.

boogieman

Medicine is brilliant these days, glad you’re on the mend.  I only have photos of my paternal grandmother, she died just weeks before I was born. She looks about 90 in the pics but was only in her 50s, all because she’d got a dicky heart valve that caused catastrophic heart failure and that’s what ultimately killed her. 

Octafish

SNAKEBITE said:

Brilliant news you are on the mend.

No doubt about it, science is the shit.

The NHS is a wonderful thing and it is these stories that need to shoved down the throats of the arseholes who want to destroy it.

Yep, undoubtedly things do go wrong sometimes and badly wrong for some, but I've had such amazing treatment from that initial GP apppointment, through consultants, nurses, doctors to the discharge nurse, in particular big thanks to Basildon Cardiothoracic Centre. The idea that in some countries this wouldn't be on the cards unless you're rich enough is truly sobering. My dad's also been having amazing treatment and care for aggressive prostrate cancer and my father-in-law has just had a quick and succesful hernia op. What with my mum's advancing Parkinson's, my family are a medical disaster-zone at the moment.

JezWynd

Octafish said:

SNAKEBITE said:

Brilliant news you are on the mend.

No doubt about it, science is the shit.

The NHS is a wonderful thing and it is these stories that need to shoved down the throats of the arseholes who want to destroy it.

Yep, undoubtedly things do go wrong sometimes and badly wrong for some, but I've had such amazing treatment from that initial GP apppointment, through consultants, nurses, doctors to the discharge nurse, in particular big thanks to Basildon Cardiothoracic Centre. The idea that in some countries this wouldn't be on the cards unless you're rich enough is truly sobering. My dad's also been having amazing treatment and care for aggressive prostrate cancer and my father-in-law has just had a quick and succesful hernia op. What with my mum's advancing Parkinson's, my family are a medical disaster-zone at the moment.

I've just been reading about how 500,000 Americans declare bankruptcy every year due to health care costs. While routine stuff in the NHS can be a bit hit and miss, when it comes to the life saving stuff, they can rarely be faulted.

Good to hear you are on the mend.

ESBlonde

Brilliant ride, and now everyday is a bonus. Congratulations and have a wonderful life.

scrumhalf

I echo the comments above about the NHS. I had my op at Barts. There was a private ward just down the corridor from my ward and I cannot think how they might have got better treatment than I did.

That said, I was always polite to the staff, but why would I not be? I've seen too many people mistake a nurse for a personal slave. "Please" and "thank you" shoud be mandatory when dealing with people who are keeping you alive, although people really shouldn't have to be reminded of this. The lack of basic courtesy these days is appalling.

PC_Dave

Bloody Nora! Glad they caught it, and glad you’re doing so well already! Look after yourself and rest up.

All the best, Dave