valve surgery considerations

[Ted]

I just received some bad news at the orthopedic doctors office yesterday..

       Not only do I need a new aortic valve very soon but my hip joint is worn out.. I am too young for all this
       stuff and I have always been a very active person..maybe too active ?

anyway

       My question to the doctor here is.. which operation should I do first..

       would hip surgery soon after heart surgery be a danger to my new valve .. or more of a danger than to my old valve that works but is stenosed to 1 cm.. with a bad hip joint I could not walk like I would like to after surgery for rehabilitation ..

I am confused and discouraged by all this.. Up until a few weeks ago I was walking 3  miles every day of my life.. hiking building houses etc

       Can I do both of these operations  and be active again.. Also I am aware that both of these surgical repairs  are temporary.. the valves last less time than the hips but neither would probably allow me freedom from another operation. I plan to get a homo graft..and I plan to do it in Cleveland..

one more question.. I think I may be prone to bleeding as I had a problem with a cystoscopy once when blood was clotting in my bladder. The doctor said he had not seen that before. my teeth also bleed often when I brush them.. is this something they can address during the operation with coagulation drugs or something of that nature? I have heard horror storys about people who had to be re opened to stop bleeding..I also have a tooth that broke off and needs to be pulled..it is not infected but should I do that now or wait a year or so.. I know I have to take antibiotics either way but which would be more dangerous to my health.

Lotsa questions here I know but I hope you can address some of these concerns for me..

Thanks.


       Ted

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Dear Ted,

I'm sorry to hear your news, however the good news is there are treatments for both these conditions.  Generally the heart surgery should proceed the orthopedic surgery unless the valve is not that bad and there are no coronary artery blockages.  You will need to see a cardiologist for the evaluation of this.  If you are coming to the clinic I would recommend Dr. Bill Stewart at desk F15 to evaluate you.  The bleeding shouldn't be a problem as long as they know about it ahead of time.

[Hank Eyring]

Hello There Ted,

I am writing you to let you know about a list that myself and several other Aortic Valve Replacement patients have going.

I am a 33 year old male who had aortic valve replacement surgery in April of 1999.  I often had questions about stuff like what do other people’s spouses think about their valves clicking, to how do the kids deal with Dad having major surgery.  Also issues about what is involved in approaching surgery, going through surgery and recovering from surgery. We also discuss the use of coumadin since most of us have to take it for the rest of our lives.

If you would like to join a mailing list along with folks who have been through this kind of stuff before and are facing it in the future, just go to the following URL and sign up.

http://frontpage.inficad.com/~hanky/heart.htm

You will find much help with this list and we all learn from each other.

Hope you can join us,

Hank Eyring

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Thanks.