Valve Replacement Surgery - My Story, Your Story!

Ever since early March of this year, when Dr. Death Drums (a hospitalist I'd never seen before or since) entered my hospital room with an authoritative, pompous flourish and proceeded to ask me if anyone had ever discussed my severe congestive heart failure with me; thoughts of my heart have not been far from my mind.

I must have looked as wild-eyed as a baby Orangutan watching his first mating dance of a Bird of Paradise because, although I'd had tachybrady syndrome and A-fib for more than thirteen years, it was well controlled by my pacemaker and Cardia. I had lived a normal, very active life all those years and really never thought about my heart unless it was time to change the pacemaker's battery.

When Dr. Death Drums saw the look of terror flash over my face, he immediately took two steps back from my bed and exclaimed, "don't blame me, I'm just the messenger". I consider myself lucky that I didn't stroke out right then and there.

My thoughts about my heart ran then and continue to run the entire gamut from total optimism to complete despair. One minute I'm listing my positive non-risk factors for open-heart surgery and the next I find myself trying to digest the mortality rate for valve replacement surgery (which is very good by the way). Well-meaning people telling you that it's not much more than the risk of being hit by a car does not help at this particular juncture.

Dr. Death Drums, as we now refer to him, was technically correct, I had been hospitalized for congestive heart failure; however had he taken the time to read more than the front page of my chart he would have known that a few days earlier, I'd had a pacemaker lead extraction procedure.

Complications from extracting a thirteen-year-old pacemaker lead had caused extensive damage to my tricuspid heart valve. The valve was severely regurgitating and now I needed either a valve repair, if possible, or a valve replacement.

I am now awaiting valve replacement surgery, which is scheduled for the 13th of May.