Aortic valve and pacemaker

[Baker1509]

Hi, back in August this year I was diagnosed with a bicuspid valve which was leaking. I was advised to have it replaced as early as possible, at 47 suddenly to be told that I had been born with the bicuspid valve also was rather mind blowing. To add a complication to this when going for routine examinations ready for my operation, I went into complete heart block so had to be rushed into hospital sooner than expected.

This has now lead to me having not just a mechanical valve, but also a pacemaker fitted. This has all been rather a lot take in over the last few months, but am now coming to terms to what is ahead of me.

[Nettyanne]

Morning, sorry to hear about your heart problems. I am waiting for surgery to replace my mitral valve as the repair I had 10 yrs ago has failed.

My first thought was I can't go through heart surgery again but a few months later I now realise that my symptoms are getting worse so surgery is the only option.

As you say it is a lot to take in but try to keep positive and make sure you write down any questions you want to ask as it is easy to forget when you see the surgeon. Hope you don't wait too long for your op.

Best wishes

Annette

[Fredders]

Hi, I was diagnosed with a heart murmur when I was 16, but they think I was probably born with it. Had a tissue valve when I was 52 and had my second aortic valve op on 7 Nov this time I opted for a mechanical valve. Like you, I had heart block, so had to have a pacemaker fitted on 13 Nov. Had my first pacemaker check yesterday and apparently the bottom wire is pacing all the time but all looks okay.

How are you getting on with the warfarin regime? Thankfully my clinic supports home testing so I bought my own testing machine and just need to ring the clinic for them to update my records and they confirm my dosage. Will make life a lot easier once I'm back at work.

I hope your recovery continues to go well and you can look forward to a great 2018.

Wendy

[skid112 Heart Star]

Hi there Baker and welcome to the forum, onwards and upwards for 2018 I hope all has gone well for you thus far and for the future

Mark

[mewg]

hi baker pritty much the same as me im 40 and found out was born with bicuspid valve so i needed surgery which i had 5 weeks ago and it still aint kicked in wot has happened im ticking like a bomb and get sum funny looks in warfrin clinic lol but i think im over the worst now onwards from here in.i hope all goes well 4u and a quick recovy

[Baker1509]

Thanks all for your replies, things getting easier each day. The new regime around what I can eat is the hardest, to make sure it doesn't affect my warfrin dosage. Starting a gradual return to work in a couple of weeks, be good to have some sort of normality, but not to push it to far for some time to come yet.