Aortic Aneurysm and cycling - because walking is no fun

[bocarider]

I had aortic valve and root replacement surgery in January, after a 5 year build up of monitoring a moderately leaky valve and a 4.6 aneurysm which became a severely leaking valve and a 4.8 aneurysm (more on the size in a moment). I’ve posted about it on this forum before and had some very helpful responses, but here are some details and thoughts that I hope are helpful to you:

My cardiologist picked up a slight murmur and ordered an echo-cardiogram and then a CT scan which revealed my leaky valve and aneurysm. While I cut back on the intensity of my cycling, I still kept riding. I was very lucky - I never had a symptom of any cardiac issues ever and I was riding 4 days a week, went on 8 pretty strenuous bike trips, rode 3 century ride events, and worked a high stress job (not much of the type A personality am I).

Last year both my cardiologist and the surgeon I had consulted recommended that I have surgery. While I was not having any symptoms, the leak and aneurysm were getting worse and, being relatively young (57) and in good shape (I had no other cardiovascular disease), they both said that at some point I was going to have congestive heart failure from the leaky valve, which probably would not not kill me, but would be very unpleasant and could potentially damage my otherwise healthy heart. The aneurysm presented another risk - aortic dissection, which is what killed the actor John Ritter. That just hits you one day and you’re probably going to be dead before you can get help. While the percentage are moderately low, it is a risk.

I had the surgery which was no picnic. I am glad I did it. When they opened me up and actually measured the aneurysm, it was over 5 cm, which is bad (proving that echocardiograms and CT scans are not super accurate). The 3 months after surgery pretty much sucked. I am, 10 months later, basically back to normal, except for my cycling, which is coming back slowly, which is frustrating to me, but I have to take it in stride.

Digesting all of the information coming at you and making decisions is difficult. I got some good suggestions from people on this forum, but at the end of the day, it’s your cardiologist and thoracic surgeon that you need to spend time with and evaluate their recommendations.

The most important thing I can tell you is find the best surgeon you can - someone who has done 1,000s of this procedure and does it at a hospital that has full resources to support your post surgery recovery. I was very lucky to get to a guy who has a national reputation in this field and have have my surgery at a great hospital (I traveled 4 hours north to Orlando, Florida).

There is also a good blog and newsletter you may want to check out:

https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/heart-surgery-blog/

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further. If you opt to have surgery, I have a lot of tips that will be helpful to you in getting ready for it and maximizing your recovery.