My drama queen thread

Rotty

Rotty

Rotty

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
41,973
Location
Notts
Left it for some time before making this public

In Feb I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic heart valve, something I was unaware of but will have had since birth

without surgery the outcome was pretty obvious, apparently my valve should have opened 27mm and mine opened 4mm

Covid caused some delays but in June I was admitted to Papworth hospital which is the top heart place in the country

I have had the valve replaced with bits of pig :eek: (if you are squeamish don't google how this is done) as a 54 year old that's lived life to the max I also had blocked arteries etc, normally these would have been stented but a bypass is a better fix and as my surgeon said "while we have the bonnet up we will do a triple bypass" , also I had some blood clots in my heart, these were removed and the chamber they form in was closed off

I was supposed to be in ICU for a day but my heart rate was stuck at 140, was like being in Gym 24hrs a day (not that I would know) sweating, out of breath etc, I also had ice packs down my sides

3 days and no improvement they used an electric shock to regain normal rhythm and that got me out of ICU

From then on it's all been pretty good, after 5 weeks i can now walk about 3 miles, I have a couple of issues but nothing too serious

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Jesus dude that’s a big ‘ole op to be going through. Congratulations (if that’s the correct way of putting it) and all the very best wishes for the future.

out of curiosity, the big scar on the leg, what do they do down there if you don’t mind me asking?
 
Thekwango said:
Jesus dude that’s a big ‘ole op to be going through. Congratulations (if that’s the correct way of putting it) and all the very best wishes for the future.

out of curiosity, the big scar on the leg, what do they do down there if you don’t mind me asking?
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when they do all the bypass stuff you have arteries in your chest they use for some of it but not enough so they take veins from your leg for the rest
 
Rotty said:
when they do all the bypass stuff you have arteries in your chest they use for some of it but not enough so they take veins from your leg for the rest
Click to expand...
Wow. That’s pretty impressive and scary! And there’s no negative impact to the legs from these veins being removed?
 
Thekwango said:
Wow. That’s pretty impressive and scary! And there’s no negative impact to the legs from these veins being removed?
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the surgeon explained as "we have closed one lane of the M25 but all the others will widen to cope" :p

we all know how a bypass works but the fact they can replace parts of your heart as a routine thing still seems scary to me
 
Rotty said:
Left it for some time before making this public

In Feb I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic heart valve, something I was unaware of but will have had since birth

without surgery the outcome was pretty obvious, apparently my valve should have opened 27mm and mine opened 4mm

Covid caused some delays but in June I was admitted to Papworth hospital which is the top heart place in the country

I have had the valve replaced (if you are squeamish don't google how this is done) as a 54 year old that's lived life to the max I also had blocked arteries etc, normally these would have been stented but a bypass is a better fix and as my surgeon said "while we have the bonnet up we will do a triple bypass" , also I had some blood clots in my heart, these were removed and the chamber they form in was closed off

I was supposed to be in ICU for a day but my heart rate was stuck at 140, was like being in Gym 24hrs a day (not that I would know) sweating, out of breath etc, I also had ice packs down my sides

3 days and no improvement they used an electric shock to regain normal rhythm and that got me out of ICU

From then on it's all been pretty good, after 5 weeks i can now walk about 3 miles, I have a couple of issues but nothing too serious

106903205_10157277493691847_9041906201865402013_o.jpg
107512199_10157277826991847_243116591545419080_o.jpg

106510155_10157270847311847_3394359070181202848_o.jpg
Click to expand...

just wow, had no idea, that is such a horrible ordeal to go through and i am glad that you are on the mend, give you and you'r family my best wishes and hope you continue to improve :)
 
Yrkoon said:
just wow, had no idea, that is such a horrible ordeal to go through and i am glad that you are on the mend, give you and you'r family my best wishes and hope you continue to improve :)
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thanks

ridiculous thing is my wife was admitted to hospital 48 hrs before me and had appendix removed day before :p

the valve will only last about 15 yrs so will need doing again, my surgeon (I picked one of the very best if not the best in the country) is confident that by that time it can be done like a stent is these days, hope so as I can't go through that *** again
 
Rotty said:
thanks

ridiculous thing is my wife was admitted to hospital 48 hrs before me and had appendix removed day before :p

the valve will only last about 15 yrs so will need doing again, my surgeon (I picked one of the very best) is confident that by that time it can be done like a stent is these days, hope so as I can't go through that *** again
Click to expand...

dang that is super tough, give your wife my best wishes for a speedy recovery as well :)
 
Yrkoon said:
dang that is super tough, give your wife my best wishes for a speedy recovery as well :)
Click to expand...

thanks

she's all good and has been back at work for 2 weeks :)

her hospital was great, they sent her home 12 hrs after op, no discharge papers or anything, just to make sure we had a couple of hrs before I went (no visitors for me due to covid), she did formalities later in day
 
Look on the brightside; not only was it diagnosed, sorted and you got a service and tune up thrown in but also... And most importantly... You have some great war wounds to show off!
 
Rotty said:
thanks

ridiculous thing is my wife was admitted to hospital 48 hrs before me and had appendix removed day before :p

the valve will only last about 15 yrs so will need doing again, my surgeon (I picked one of the very best if not the best in the country) is confident that by that time it can be done like a stent is these days, hope so as I can't go through that *** again
Click to expand...

How strange, my old man had a quad bypass about 7 years ago and you guessed it, my mum's appendix ruptured and needed to be be removed 2 days before.
Good luck with the recovery, it effected my dad in several ways and he had severe down periods mentally. I guess it's after something major you realise your own mortality.
 
That's the same op that Bob Mortimer had, and you'll be happy to hear that he does no real exercise whatsoever and his surgeon says he's still in better shape than before the op.
 
You'll have some impressively long scars. My advice is to practice keeping a straight face when you tell people about the time you fought off a rabid lion :)

There's a chap where I work who's in his 80s and has scars that would be a close match for your surgery cuts years from now. I don't remember what surgery he had, but the scars look the same length and in the same places. Or maybe he fought off a rabid lion :)
 
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