carol's Journal

Hello all! First time posting. Surgery date is in 2 weeks now. Having aortic valve replacement. Will meet with surgeon the day before & hopefully he won't say anything else needs to be done! My family history of heart problems is really bad. I have 3 uncles who had valve replaced. One of them had rheumatic fever as a child. The females in the family seemed to just, "drop dead!" I don't mean to make light of this in anyway! My sister was just 19, mom was 56 & grandma about 65. Had a brother who died last summer, was on LVad, waiting on heart transplant for 5 yrs. He was 60 yrs old. So!! Long story short. Not too too nervous yet, but just asked & given Rx for sleep. I learned of the valve issue just a yr. ago! So it's been a whirlwind yr. to say the least. I have lots of other health issues, but they are fairly well controlled.

Whoa! Stop the freight train1 I feel like I have been hit. All I did was change to an interrnist as I "knew" something wasn't right. Yes , I was told I worry too much. I have been having trouble with blood pressure up & then down, lots oh head pressure & feeling faint upon standing at times. And I am already on 5 b/p meds! And had seen the cardiology office bunches of times this year. I'm sufe I have a label with them as pain in the pit-tootie! Long story short, I now have been tested here in small town & have a "moderate" aortic valve stenosis, But from reading between the lines the physical exam sounds more severe! Soooo, am waiting on the call from Cleveland clinic that I have an appt. I am & have been in a state of numb shock. My brother was justy buried 3weeks ago after dying from heart failure after waiting since 2010 fora heart replacement! It was a horrible end of life journey for he & his family.. My family history of sudden death is awful. Sister dropped dead at age 19; mom at age 57; maternal grandma "heart exploded", per my mom;s description. Mom had 3 brothers, 2 died around early 6o yrs. of age- each had a different type of valve replacement yrs. before; the other brother has aortic valve surger ar 85 & is doing well! So thanks for hanging in there with me if you have read all of this. Cleveland Clinic has lots of teaching /education on their web page. I feel better finding their info. Plus there is a chat with a nurse page that is nice. You can talk or online instant talk. I am a retired RN, I used to work in the operating room waaayyy back in the early 1970's & helped pass instruments when the open heart surgeries were first being done! But knowing that and being the patient is so differrent. And I just had major thumb joint & ligament repari surgery 2 months ago. I thought this would be the last of my surgeries before Medicare age came up in a couple more years. Thankfully I heal well & the thumb surgery was not that painful as Dr. used a pain ball for a week that infused numbing med. slowly . I didn't even need pain meds that week! Well, I get chatty when I'm anxious. Thanks for allowing me to vent. XOXO