Whats Wrong With My Valve?

Yep. That's how it started. A little fluttering of my heart turned out to be my Bicuspid Aortic Valve. But, isn't Aortic valves suppose to be Tricuspid? Yes. (as my doctor would say). Over time, in some cases, a Bicuspid valve will separate and leak. When this happens it is called Aortic Insufficiency. I will try not to be that technical but there are terms we all need to know.

So, how did i find out about this? I went in got and had an ECG done. Basically like an ultrasound on the heart. They saw that blood was leaking back in my heart. This is bad is because my heart will beat harder to compensate for the back flow making my heart larger as it builds muscle. As the heart builds muscle it stretches the Aorta and Aortic valve, thus letting more blood back in the heart. So, you see the problem. If left untreated the heart can fail or the Aorta could rupture, both outcomes are bad and inevitable if nothing is done.

After I was told this is December, I did the whole "why me," "why now," I'm 29. Then when I saw most the people that have this are in their 60's, 70's, or 80's the "WTF?!?" side of me kicked in.

After speaking with my uncle, he told me that this is what my grandfather, his father, died from in the 1960's. "I won the draw." The odds of getting this bicuspid valve in a family with a history is 1 in 4. So my two sisters and brother can relax. In the total population the odds are that you have this is under 2%. 

So, I can't win the lotto but, ta-da, I get an aortic valve replacement. I win. On the plus side this is the most common heart procidure.

After deliberating my options, I decided to go with a bovine valve. I didn't want to go with mechanical because I would be on blood thinners the rest of my life. I couldn't ski, scuba dive, or ride a bike because of possible head injuries. 

Bovine lets me go back to my life and begin my transformation from man to beast. No long term medicine (though I am looking forward to the narcotics). I will need to have another replacement in 10 - 25  years or the new "umbrella valve" once it isn't experimental anymore, but that is a small price to pay to keep my life as is.  

So, that was back in December/January. Today is May 6th and I go into surgery tomorrow at 6:30 am. I'm actually looking forward to this. The people at Northwestern Memorial have been great so far and why wouldn't I be excited. About 40 years ago they couldn't do anything for my grandfather. Now, I will be back to my active life in 6-8 weeks. Planning a wedding, moving to a new house, and moving job locations. I plan on keeping this blog for 8 months. I will chart my heart progress and my life until after the wedding. Stick around it my be fun. Plus you may learn something. I Heart Beef.