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Aortic Regurgitation, Joined May 4, 2022
Aortic Regurgitation
Joined May 4, 2022
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I am from: New York, New York -
My surgery date is: October 18, 2023
Thank you for sharing your story . Ive been following your story recently and noticed you b/c you're from NY, young(ish), and opted ...Read more
Thank you for sharing your story . Ive been following your story recently and noticed you b/c you're from NY, young(ish), and opted for Mt Sinai for your surgery.
I had my aortic (due to regurgitation) replaced with bovine valve at Mt Sinai nearly 10 yrs ago at age 46. by Dr. Allan Stewart. He since relocated to Miami. I didnt have much issues, and my valve is holding up fine still. but up until recently, now dealing with Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation so started on metprolol last month.
My concern is actually my daughter. she was screened b/c of me, and diagnosed at age 18 w/ moderate to severe aortic regurgitation. She's 24 now and still just being monitored with yearly echo. Soon she will need to have this surgery. we've been to several surgeons. Initially we ruled out mechanical and ross. but now i'm leaning towards ross, or like you, a repair if possible. Like you, bc I dont want her to have this surgery several times in her lifetime. Would you mind to share your cardiologist name? i know you highly recommend the 2 surgeons you mentioned. I would trust they are top notch.
in the meantime, rest up and speedy recovery!
Would you share your cardiologist name? My daughter is seeing Dr. Matt Lewis from Columbia Presby who she is fond of, but always good to get a second opinion.
Since diagnosis, it stayed at mod/severe regurgitiation, Her ejection fraction is right at borderline and her heart is enlarged, and asymtomatic. She was a swimmer (we live in Central NJ) but she gained so much weight since. We are trying to delay the surgery as long as possible.
... Read more
Would you share your cardiologist name? My daughter is seeing Dr. Matt Lewis from Columbia Presby who she is fond of, but always good to get a second opinion.
Since diagnosis, it stayed at mod/severe regurgitiation, Her ejection fraction is right at borderline and her heart is enlarged, and asymtomatic. She was a swimmer (we live in Central NJ) but she gained so much weight since. We are trying to delay the surgery as long as possible.
You must be thrilled you got it repaired. I wish I was able to and hope my daughter can too. Now, I'm worried about stroke risk for myself b/c of paroxymal afib, and even more worried about my daughter since she got diagnosed at a younger age, it really caused alot of mental and emotional strain on her. I'm sure it weighed on you all these years as well.
Thanks for your insights.
Connie Lau
Dr. Stelzer told me that the heart will contract back to normal after surgery. That bought me some time and gave me some relief because every other cardiologist/surgeon will tell you to do the surgery immediately once they see severe regurgitation. Symptomatically I was fine. I just knew I wasn't ever going to win a stamina race compared to others. As long as we did an echo every 6 months, we should be able to catch the right time to do the surgery.
When it came time to decided to do the surgery, there were some numbers that didn't look right. We did a Cardiac MRI to quantify how severe my aortic regurgitation was leaking. The LV systolic volume was 79 ml/m/s and the diastolic volume was 195 ml/m/s. Compared to a normal heart, the diastolic should be at about 80 ml/m/s. My heart was enlarging almost 3 times as much just to compensate for my regurgitation My doctor gave me 6 months to plan a date for surgery and I decided to do it and put this behind me.
... Read more
Dr. Stelzer told me that the heart will contract back to normal after surgery. That bought me some time and gave me some relief because every other cardiologist/surgeon will tell you to do the surgery immediately once they see severe regurgitation. Symptomatically I was fine. I just knew I wasn't ever going to win a stamina race compared to others. As long as we did an echo every 6 months, we should be able to catch the right time to do the surgery.
When it came time to decided to do the surgery, there were some numbers that didn't look right. We did a Cardiac MRI to quantify how severe my aortic regurgitation was leaking. The LV systolic volume was 79 ml/m/s and the diastolic volume was 195 ml/m/s. Compared to a normal heart, the diastolic should be at about 80 ml/m/s. My heart was enlarging almost 3 times as much just to compensate for my regurgitation My doctor gave me 6 months to plan a date for surgery and I decided to do it and put this behind me.
**Conclusion**
Time will tell how my heart operates and how much my heart will contract back to normal. It can take a year before I see some results. It seems that the Cardiac MRI was the nail in the coffin that signed my date for surgery.
**Your Questions**
Which surgeon to schedule appointment with?
I think El-Hamamsy would be a good bet moving forward. Paul Stelzer is my surgeon and was a great guy and had great bedside manner. However, he's like to step down soon for retirement. El-Hamamsy will be the head for Ross and Repairs along with the next upcoming generation.
What cardiologist do I use?
I am in the middle of switching cardiologists. Unfortunately my insurance no longer takes my former cardiologist, Dr. Eric Kirschner. When picking a cardiologist, I think it's important to have someone who understands and is familiar with the surgeries you are about to do. Kirschner was familiar with Stelzer's work. However in my experience, most of the surgeons knew more about the health outcomes and the details of the surgeries you will have. I gained much more knowledge and clarity by meeting the surgeons rather than my cardiologists. My cardiologists would test me on echos and tell me I belonged in the severe regurgitation category and it was no question that I had to do surgery.
Hope this helps Connie. If you want a call to help answer some questions or get some feedback, I'm free to share. I think it's empowering to know other people's experience with the surgery. We can exchange details over email: scheong78@gmail.com
Kind regards,
Stanley