Waiting

So I on Tuesday I went for pre-admission and to see the surgeon. My parents came along with me and we turned up for 12pm. The nurses are very friendly and really make you feel at ease. The first thing they did was take a blood test - I'm assuming this was to check for any infections and such. This is fairly straight forward...unless you have a fear of needles like the person after me did! But it really is harmless. What no-one ever told me was that to check for MRSA, you get to long sticks made of soft material shoved up your nose. When they showed me them and said they needed a swab from me, I automatically opened my mouth thinking that's where they would be poking me... After that they take your blood pressure, check your weight and height and that's the end of the tests.

On to see the surgeon? I thought so, but no. We had to wait four hours for him because he was delayed in theatre. Because of the wait the nurses decided to talk to us more. They asked a few questions about my medical history and then went on to describe the days following my operation. It was the first time I actually felt light-headed about it. I didn't know if it was because I hadn't eaten for so long, or if it was starting to get to me. After the talk they decided to show us around the rooms. First stop was ITU where we would be after surgery. It seemed very noisy and there were tons of machines around the place; but the patients seemed to be sleeping through it all. Not an ideal place to be but we were told it was only a short term stop after surgery. Once we recovered enough (a day or two later), we would be moved to a standard room. I tried to check if there was a TV but couldn't get a good look! I think I was expecting something a lot more comfertable, but I can't really complain - a bed's a bed right?

After this was done, a lot more waiting...and finally the surgeon arrived. He was a little eccentric in my view, throwing some jokes around and laughing a lot which I guess did put me at ease. The first question I asked was about the ON-X valve and he had to hold back a laugh - I assume people have asked him before about this. In his view he was unprepared to use the valve until concrete evidence was out regarding its performance. He knew I did my Masters in Research Methods and went on to explain his reasonings with stats and experimental design. What he said did make sense in that a lot more patients and time would be needed for any generalisable findings. I still had some sort of hope for using the ON-X valve but in the end I settled for the St. Jude. ON-X are used in the U.K., but I guess it depends on your surgeon. In my point of view, Warfarin wouldn't be that big of a deal to take for the rest of your life. And the risks posed by it aren't as bad as the rumours out there.

We then threw some questions at him. For those of you out there who wanted some more information on Warfarin, I would highly recommend you doing your own research. What he did say to me however, was things like playing football shouldn't be a problem, or day-to-day knocks on the head. Even eating greens (which can interact with Warfarin) shouldn't be that big of a problem. He did a good job of keeping me calm. Even when I went to sign the consent form acknowledging the risk involved - 5% mortality. I did hesitate at that figure but not having an operation is simply not an option.

It certainly is a strange thing talking to someone you know will soon have there hands inside of your body!

The Fear

It's almost a month before my operation and I'm not scared one bit. I say this honestly, not trying to put on a brave front or with the intention of saying 'look at me, I'm tough'. It really isn't a big deal to me. People have spoke about feeling light headed when thinking of the operation, unable to stand. I wonder if more closer to the time, when I'm in my hospital room the day before the operation, maybe then I feel some of this fear. But right now it doesn't seem like a big deal to me. When I tell people I'm having a heart operation I always find myself following up with the phrase "It's really not a big deal, the risk is like 1% and it sounds worse than it actually is". Am I mad?

I will admit however, when I first found out about the operation I was in a bit of a daze. But that lasted all but 5 minutes. Why so short? A bird decided to leave it's 'white mark' on me as I walked down the street and I couldn't help but laugh.

Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm just a rather passive person...I'm not sure this is a good thing however.

P.S. Am I the only British patient who didn't have their condition fully explained to them, or is this common in our country? I was always told that my condition was not too serious and that it could be fixed with the old 'balloon in the heart' operation. The first I heard about open heart surgery was when I was told I needed the operation. I really love the NHS for many things, but the lack of involvement I've had is really frustrating. Lucky for me I'm aware of how it works in America so I'm more proactive in engaging with doctors, doing research online (finally I can put my Research degree to use and easily understand the journal articles!).

The Beginning

What's the best way to start this blog? I guess I'll sum it up nice and quickly:

• I'm 22 years old, male, from London.
  
• I have aortic stenosis (which means my aortic valve is narrowing over time). If left untouched it would eventually close up, which is not good.
  
• I'm scheduled for surgery on the 6th of May, 2009.

So, why this blog? Well for the most part I felt it was important to share the process of getting an aortic valve replaced, for future patients who just might happen to come across this (assuming this blog will get any visitors!). There's also the fact that I'm only 22 and as egotistical (is that the right word?) as it sounds, I think that's a pretty rare thing as the majority of patients are a fair bit older when they have their operation. Finally, there's a lot out there on the internet about the experience of Americans in my situation, but the experience of British patients is kind of lacking.

Well there you have it! Stick with me on my journey and hopefully somebody will find this as useful read prior to their own surgery!