Okay so here's the thing. This may not be a "musician" issue, but it is one we all should know about. The first thing is if you need to get a heart valve replaced, make sure you ask what size they are putting in. Things you didn't know you needed to know right? And for an adult it should "never be less than a 21". The quote is from a cardiologist at Mt. Sinai hospital in Miami. Also just a point of preference here. If they are putting in a porcine (pig) valve, know that it will last tops 10 to 15 years. So it is sort of like planned obsolesence. If they give you a porcine valve, they don't expect you to live longer than that or they expect you to have another incredibly complicated risky surgery later in life. So how do I know these things? Well, Mom had a heart valve replaced in 2003, along with a triple bypass. A porcine valve. Almost immediately, her cardiologist said that he was noticing stenosis in the valve. He said that we should plan on another surgery in the relatively near future. Needless to say, Mom was not particularly enthusiastic about the prospect. At this point, we started alternative treatments, acupuncture, herbs and energetic healing techniques to try to avoid this. She did very well with this and the stenosis was controlled, it didn't get any worse. When she moved in with us, we kind of let that therapy lapse, new routine and all and then all of a sudden she got dizzy one day. Two days later, she is in the hospital, being prepped for a replacement of the same valve that had been replaced not 7 years earlier. But now she is older, the blood vessels have calcified more and the surgery is just more difficult. To a man, every doctor consulted stated that her original replacement valve was just "too small". The bypasses were working wonderfully, but the valve was not working well at all. So here we were again, but now she is 7 years older and the surgery is risker the second time anyway. But we went for it because the really was no alternative. There are no drugs to treat a heart valve that is slowly closing and at this point it is really a sort of "pipe" problem. When you are in your 80s, one fall from a dizzy spell brought on by the blood not being pumped through the heart can be a life threatening experience. And there was no way to tell when it would happen again, no warning signs or anything to give one a chance to sit down and wait it out. So here we were.
That's the thing about this sort of condition. One day you are going about your business, the next day, in the hospital, prepping for major surgery. Signing all those DNRs, consent for treatment, surrogate etc. forms. And it seems as if you have no control over your life. The doctors just tell you what you need. They don't offer you options, they just say things like "we'll come in the morning and bring you down for your pre-surgical tests". "NO getting out of bed without the nurse". For an active independent person, it is a humbling and overwhelming experience.
Next: surgery!
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