About Me (In My Own Words)
I'm 68 years old, have a murmur, irregular heart beat, tachycardia and the Aortic Stenosis. About 7 days ago, my heart beat got so bad I was having dizzy spells. I landed in the ER at Emory University Hospital, Midtown. They gave me a very low doses of Metoprolol and it has helped me a bit. Still have flutterings which make me weak. I have no strength. On 2 September 2014, I will call Dr. Macheers to get a date for the Aortic Replacement Surgery. Don't know what else to do about the irregular heart beat. Not looking forward to any of this…
11/10/2014 - Had the Aortic Valve replaced with a bovine valve. Surgery was absolutely wonderful. I do not know what Dr. S. Macheers and/or his staff did; maybe because I was only taking by blood pressure pill and my synthroid pill out of the many pills I had been prescribed but… I NEVER HAD ONE BIT OF PAIN FROM THE SURGERY. I remember the nurses saying, "it does not matter if you have no pain, we must prevent what's eventually coming." It never came and I complained and complained until they stopped giving me pain killers. AMAZING
I must say that right after the surgery I felt like my heart was going to stop beating altogether. I begged my Cardiologist (at the time) to please insert a PaceMaker and finally on 11/12/2014 they did. Everything got better immediately.
My sister, 3 years older than I, tried to help me when I went home. I was supposed to walk, which I did at the Hospital and supposed to wear the Support Hose… I was too weak to put on those things and my sister is obese and could not help me at all. Forget about my husband, he was MIA. Surely enough by December I had blood clots on my left leg. Back to Emergency and another prescription pill = XARELTO. OMG I felt so bad! I took that poison for 6 months while being monitored by a new Doctor. At 6 months, he said the Xarelto had done its job and that I would have to wear the support hose for the rest of my life. Sure enough, if I don't wear it my leg gets real swollen. At night when I take the hose off, all kind of weird feelings go through my leg. Who knows what's going on in there - it is what it is.
I blame it on the Xarelto but… G-D only knows; since the surgery or after the Xarelto my head has never been the same. I get dizzy spells and lose my vision almost completely! I went to a Neurosurgeon and he found nothing wrong in the brain (I'm glad he did find a brain period). I went to Opthomologist and he gave me new glasses. I went to the ENT doctor and after a thorough inspection he found nothing. He did tell me that the eyes and the ears are connected in a way since I could not understand why I would get dizzy and my vision would diminish. The dizzy spells have gotten better, 1 year and 5 mos. after the first surgery but are not completely gone. My head ALWAYS feel funny, sort of light and my vision is still impaired. It feels like I'm going to stroke out - None of my Doctors seem to know why. Maybe one day soon I can go to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL and maybe they can diagnose this very annoying problem.
BTW my AFIB is pretty much GONE. This took place a few months after my surgery.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
JENKINSBURG, Georgia
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My surgery date is:
November 10, 2014
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Regurgitation
Aortic Stenosis
Atrial Fibrillation
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
Pacemaker Implant
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My surgeon is:
Dr. STEVEN MACHEERS
