Heart mitral valve surgery

**Winston001** · 7th May 2010, 21:01

KB is an excellent place for sharing experiences so, knowing that one or two of you have heart problems, here is my tale.

In May 2009 my doctor detected a heart murmur which he thought was benign but worth checking. Naturally I did nothing - until he phoned asking what the cardiologist had said. Ok ok so I set up an appointment. That involved an ultrasound scan of my heart and surprise suprise, it wasn't benign. The scan showed a badly leaking mitral valve and I was able to watch the real time video in lurid colour.

The cardiologist proved to be a very decent bloke who advised urgent valve surgery. Luckily I had Southern Cross medical insurance which covered this type of problem although in hindsight I think I'd have been accepted into the public system no problem.

I'll break this all up into separate posts to avoid boring you.

**scumdog** · 7th May 2010, 21:15

Fark Winston, maybe that's why you crashed????

**Winston001** · 7th May 2010, 21:27

A little physiology is needed. I knew very little a year ago and too much now. The heart has 4 chambers and 4 valves. Three valves open to deliver fresh oxygenated blood to the brain and the body when the heart pumps. The 4th valve, (the mitral valve) opens at the opposite beat to draw in new blood from the lungs. It's sort of like the warehouse door of the heart.

The valve itself is made of two opposed leaflets which jam closed to keep the heart full of the nice new blood. Mitral valve failure is not common compared with arterial heart blockages which are the cause of your average heart attack. But at least the arteries are on the surface of the heart and can be treated with stents (steel tubes inserted from the wrist or groin). Bypass surgery is required when these are completely blocked.

Valve surgery is a different matter requiring the heart to be cut open and generally abused. So I checked my will.....

In my case the P2 lobe of the posterior leaflet was prolapsing and fluttering when the valve closed which allowed a backwash of 50% of the blood to the lungs. In other words, only half of the fresh blood was being circulated. The result was fatigue, extreme tiredness, lack of energy, loss of vigour, and vague memory. Looking back, these symptoms began 5 years ago which are classic mitral valve indicators.

**FJRider** · 7th May 2010, 21:28

I gather the problem is sorted now ... and feeling much better overall. I HOPE ...

**scumdog** · 7th May 2010, 21:29

Originally Posted by Winston001

The result was fatigue, extreme tiredness, lack of energy, loss of vigour, and vague memory. Looking back, these symptoms began 5 years ago which is classic mitral valve effects.

Sums up most of my days.
And I ain't crook like you!

**Winston001** · 7th May 2010, 21:31

Originally Posted by scumdog

Fark Winston, maybe that's why you crashed????

Trust me SD, I pondered that at the time but no. I'd never had a blackout or sudden event from this problem, it's a gradual thing. Also the CAT and MRI scans didn't show anything apart from the concussion damage.

**Gareth51** · 7th May 2010, 22:01

That's no good ,so we won't be seeing you at the cold duck tomorrow

**Winston001** · 7th May 2010, 22:03

Back to the medical trail. Having accepted the cardiologists advice he set up an angiogram to be performed at Mercy Hospital Dunedin. This involved injecting a radio-opaque dye into the radial artery (or whichever artery is best) and watching the dye travel to the heart. I watched it too while lying on a nice big operating table but in truth can't remember much because he gave me some good juice to calm me down. Must get it out on DVD.

There are risks of stroke and even death with an angiogram because plaque can break off the artery walls and lodge in the brain. Indeed the cardiologist had had a death occur recently. In its own weird way that info helped. The odds are 20,000:1 of such a tragedy and since it had already happened, I figured my chances were good.

**Winston001** · 7th May 2010, 22:05

Originally Posted by Gareth51

That's no good ,so we won't be seeing you at the cold duck tomorrow

Err no Gareth unfortunately but some of the other guys I was with are going. Its a great rally.

**Winston001** · 7th May 2010, 22:08

I left hospital that afternoon for a motel and next morning reported to Dunedin Hospital with the cardiologist for a TOE. Transoesophageal echocardiogram in case you were wondering.

Now this did not appeal to me as a lot of fun. Having a firehose shoved down your throat with an ultrasound unit on the end just to take pictures of the heart seemed....invasive. Why bother? Well, apparently they can get much better info, almost 3 dimensional images, which the heart surgeon needs to decide on a Ferrari or a Maserati which you are going to help pay for.

Private hospitals don't do TOEs (so I'm told) because the equipment is expensive and not used often.

But I digress. They assured me I had nothing to worry about and sweetened the deal with some excellent drugs so I played along. Next moment I'm waking up to a Sri Lankan student doctor offering me a cup of tea - it was all over. No pain, no discomfort, all good. I was released (no driving) after a few hours.

This all happened in early September 2009. On 20 September 2009 coming home from the Pissed Penguin Rally my beautiful Ducati and I parted company on a corner in the Catlins.

**Winston001** · 7th May 2010, 22:28

Recovering from the bike accident took precedence over the heart problem and frankly I was in no condition to undergo major surgery for quite a long time. The concussion is still with me today. By January I felt up to facing surgery and a date of 5th March at Mercy Hospital was arranged. However you can't just go and have heart surgery, there are various tests beforehand. A complete dental checkup with my dentist, then a special 360 degree X-ray of my teeth was done at Southland Hospital. Finally comprehensive blood tests a week out from surgery. Those blood tests were repeated when I was admitted for the operation. There is a purpose in telling you this - the guy in the next bed had his surgery delayed a month because his blood showed an infection.

**Headbanger** · 8th May 2010, 08:41

wtf?

This is what you were referring to when you said you had to pop back into hospital to get a few loose ends tidied up?

Do they give out medals for understatement of the century?

Stay healthy my friend.

I'm fucking hoping this has a positive ending.

**Winston001** · 8th May 2010, 10:39

Originally Posted by Headbanger

wtf?

This is what you were referring to when you said you had to pop back into hospital to get a few loose ends tidied up?

Do they give out medals for understatement of the century?

Stay healthy my friend.

I'm fucking hoping this has a positive ending.

Cheers mate, more description to come and yes, all good now. My purpose is to describe the experience from a patient's point of view because most of the stuff on the net is from the medical perspective.

**scumdog** · 8th May 2010, 13:05

Originally Posted by Winston001

Cheers mate, more description to come and yes, all good now. My purpose is to describe the experience from a patient's point of view because most of the stuff on the net is from the medical perspective.

So nice to hear it from that perspective Winston, not very often is an op put so clear and understandably.

**mashman** · 8th May 2010, 16:49

Originally Posted by Winston001

Cheers mate, more description to come and yes, all good now. My purpose is to describe the experience from a patient's point of view because most of the stuff on the net is from the medical perspective.

Post the vid on youtube and do your own voiceover???? take it easy Winston.