Should my dad get open heart surgery to fix a leaky valve?

[fuzzybabybunny]

My dad has had a leaky heart valve for a while now. But recently it's been getting worse.

He's always tired. All he wants to do when he gets home from work is sleep. He tries to take naps while on the job.

His lack of energy shows because he's not interested in doing anything. We are going to have a $400,000 house built soon and he shows no interest in the decision-making process because he's just too tired. He's also showing no interest in financial stuff like investing, or travel, or exercise. His lack of energy makes him want to just stay at home and sleep every free chance he gets, including vacations

My dad's 60.

He doesn't want to get open heart surgery because:

1. Risk during surgery.
2. Have to be on medication for the remainder of his life.
3. May have to do another open heart surgery in the future to replace a aging artificial valve. Which means more risk.
4. Side effects? Medication may make him sick. Replacement valve may not increase his energy?

He basically wants to wait until open heart surgery is absolutely necessary.

They live by the Cleveland area, and there are some great heart hospitals here, the best in the country I think.

Should my dad get surgery to increase the quality of his life? There's the risk and being tied down to medication, but if it makes him more energetic and more active with his time, should it be done?

Anyone have any personal experience with this?

 

[KLin]

The risk is lower if he's in good health and elects to have surgery now rather than waiting.

 

[BW86]

I had open heart sugery to fix a leaky aortic valve. I was 18 years old at the time and that was last year. (June 29, 2005)
What an experience that was. But to tell you the truth, it wasn't that bad. I was only in the hospital for 5 days and I had a few cute nurses.

The only regrets that I have is that 1. I have a pretty big scar on my chest. 2. You and some people around you can hear the clicking of the valve.

To answer your questions:

Sure, he has to be on medication for the rest of his life. Big whoop. He has to take 1 pill everyday, not a big deal.

He's 60. He won't need another valve for the rest of his life. (if its artificial) The doctors told me that I probably wont need another valve for my entire life.

The only side effects that I was told was I can bruise more easily, cuts may take longer to heal and be a little chillier than normal ( due to the thinner blood) I haven't experienced any of these. Maybe its because I'm still young.

Only get the surgery if its absolutely necessary. Remember there is no going back.

EDIT: The valve that I got was called "The St. Jude Medical mechanical heart valve" and is made of graphite and coated with pyrolytic carbon.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Thanks for the comments.

I guess "absolutely necessary" needs to somehow be defined.

While he is in no mortal danger of immediately dying from it, his quality of life is really bad. Work, sleep, work, sleep. No energy to do anything in life. He doesn't want to do anything anymore except sleep. He can't even walk for very far without getting tired and a bit dizzy. Same goes for driving. Same goes for travelling or vacations. Everytime he needs to do something it takes a lot of willpower to stay awake and stuff.

 

[Bryophyte]

My dad, my father-in-law and my grandma all had surgery to repair a mitral valve prolapse (leaky mitral valve.) My dad was 56 and recovered just fine. They make the final decision on how to handle it during the actual surgery and he ended up with a stainless steel ring supporting the valve. He HATED waking up in the hospital on a ventilator and didn't like the downtime, but he healed up quickly and was off ALL medications (except I think he takes a baby aspirin) within a very short time (less than a month I think.) My father-in-law had the surgery at age 72 and ended up with a replacement valve (pig valve) and a pacemaker. It SIGNIFICANTLY improved his quality of life and he's still active at age 80. My grandma had the surgery at age 83 and due to complications not entirely related to the surgery, she ended up spending the rest of her life (maybe 6 months) in a nursing home.

What would I recommend to your father after watching three people very close to me go through it? Get it done now, don't wait until it gets worse and you're older. The younger you are, the better recovery you'll have. And they might find that he doesn't need a replacement valve, only reconstructive measures like my dad got.

 

[BW86]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Thanks for the comments.

I guess "absolutely necessary" needs to somehow be defined.

While he is in no mortal danger of immediately dying from it, his quality of life is really bad. Work, sleep, work, sleep. No energy to do anything in life. He doesn't want to do anything anymore except sleep. He can't even walk for very far without getting tired and a bit dizzy. Same goes for driving. Same goes for travelling or vacations. Everytime he needs to do something it takes a lot of willpower to stay awake and stuff.

Sounds to me that the new valve will help him a lot. I think that he should visit some hospitals and talk to the surgeons there.

 

[HomeAppraisersWife]

My Dad had his replaced about 5 years ago, but his was quite life-threatening. He had an undiagnosed case of "sub-acute bacterial endocarditis" -- an infection of the lining of the heart. That led to a small stroke and damaged his heart valve. He was in the hospital for quite some time to receive antibiotics, and after he was discharged the doctors ignored his symptoms of sweating, breathing issues, swelling, and weakness/tiredness, explaining them away as lingering after-effects of the infection. A few weeks later he was doing computer work for a doctor that he knows who noticed the sweating, etc. He had a listen and called in a cardiologist friend, who came to the office on a Sunday. Within seconds he diagnosed my Dad with a leaking heart valve, and told him he needed surgery to replace it ASAP. He was in the hospital within a week, maybe two.

He had an artifical valve placed, which you can hear clicking away if things are relatively quiet. He did tell me that he wishes he'd chosen a pig valve, although I can't recall exactly why. He does take a blood thinner daily, and that has taken some adjusting to, there've been some issues there, but I'm pretty sure they were exclusive to him -- not something that happens to everyone.

Your Dad's may not be life-threatening now, but what if he developed an infection or something -- things could turn serious very quickly. They don't know what caused my Dad's infection -- it just happened, apparently. I'm sure the prospect of open heart surgery is terrifying; I was really scared just being the child of someone who faced it; being the patient would be 100x worse. Is he under the care of a cardiologist?

So, knowing what I do and having been through it with my parent, I would hope that your Dad gets the courage to have the replacement done. Better to have it while it's not an emergency situation, IMO.

ETA: He was I think 52 at the time of the illness/surgery.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to decide which type of valve would be best.

Pig: Short life expectancy, will probably need to be replaced. But do not need to take medication. Ehhhh....
Mechanical: Lifetime expectancy, need to take medication every day. Can hear valves clicking. Ok.
Human valve taken from a donor: 15-20 year life expectancy, limited availability, do not need medication. Not exactly best of both worlds, but better than pig.

 

[D1gger]

My dad had a valve replaced in his mid 50's (about 15 years ago). His condition was much the same as your father's, tired all the time, hard time walking up stairs etc. He got it done using the mechanical valve and now has to take a pill to thin his blood (anti clotting) each day. His surgery had minor complications, but his quality of life has improved tremendously.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

For all you people who said the person who got the replacement valve had his or her life "improve tremendously," what exactly does this mean?

Like examples pwease

 

[torpid]

Are they not yet able to use tissue engineering to create a valve yet? I don't know where that field is at but I know they create ligaments fairly easily.

My dad had major kidney problems. He went through a tough time where he got a transplant that didn't work and then nearly died beacuse he decided to travel and got a blood infection while on immune suppressants. A while later he got another kidney and now is finally back on track. Since I've seen him up and down, I can say that an improved quality of life for someone who is at or near retirement age is probably worth the risks. You're basically talking about a low chance of complications and gaining a potentially fulfilling retirement.

 

[BoomerD]

What does your dad's doctor say?
Why are you asking here, instead of relying on sound medical advice?
How is any of it YOUR decision?
Why would you think YOU have any choice in the kind of valve used?

 

[MX2]

I was diagnosed with the same thing a few weeks ago because of chest pain

 

[1sikbITCH]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
For all you people who said the person who got the replacement valve had his or her life "improve tremendously," what exactly does this mean?

Like examples pwease

My father did not have a valve replaced. However, he did have a heart attack and then quadruple bypass surgery.

Before = 6'2", 295 lbs, ate like a horse, out of breathe all the time, tired and grumpy. Hated me, you, and the horse you rode in on.

After = A lot healthier in body AND spirit.
He swears by his diet, has lost 60lbs, has lots of energy and a renewed appreciation for life and is now spending my inheritance on vacations and toys. Its great. He's up at 7am hitting yard sales, visiting everyone and even selling the house to buy a bigger one. I've known him 37 years and can't ever remember him being anywhere close to this happy.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: BoomerD
What does your dad's doctor say?

He can wait or do it now

Why are you asking here, instead of relying on sound medical advice?

I am not asking for medical advice. I am asking for personal experiences of what it'll be like after the surgery and the opinions of other people. Why do you think I'm stupid enough to take forum opinions as gospel?

How is any of it YOUR decision?

It is not my decision. I made no statements saying that I would make the decision for him! It is his, but he needs information to make his decision. I would like to provide it to him because other than his medical doctor, which he does not see often anyway, he has no other way of getting other people's experiences after valve replacement.

Why would you think YOU have any choice in the kind of valve used?

Again, all I'm trying to do is gather information. He has the final decision, obviously. And again, I made no statements saying that I was going to somehow impose my choices upon him.

Oh, and thanks for giving me advice on the topic at hand. It helped a lot :thumbsup:

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

bump?