Welcome
To begin, thanks so much for visiting. I promise future posts won't be nearly as long as this one is sure to be. We thought it might be helpful to keep people up to date with some recent developments in our little world. Today's post will hopefully begin to fill anyone interested in with the happs of the situation and what to expect moving forward.
Bottom line... My heart is a little broken down and in need of some upgrades. I need to "pimp my ticker". I know, right, it's great news there's actually one in there...even if it is the size of a pea and hard as a rock!
Really though, I have a bicuspid aortic valve, which is a very frequent and fixable heart defect. It's actually the most common type of heart defect, present in about 1-2% of the population. It's likely some of you have it, too. Most people live an entire lifetime never knowing they have it, or there is no need to do anything about it. Mine just happens to be causing some problems.
It all started about 10 years ago at a routine fire department physical when the doctor nonchalantly asked, "how long have you had this heart murmur"? Bomb...drop! I was already freaking out about turning 30 and then came this validation. I was referred to a cardiologist who diagnosed the bicuspid aortic valve. At that point it was already at the moderate-severe level of leakage. It would inevitably need to be fixed some day, but we would just monitor it for the time being.
Although just knowing about pending open heart surgery was enough to cause occasional anxiety and sometimes an extra glass of wine or three, it didn't affect the way I lived. Since diagnosis, I've run numerous races, including a marathon and a handful of half marathons and others, have done a bunch of mountain biking, backpacking, and continued to do the job I love without restriction. I've also had lots of time to research my situation. People that really know me know that I'm a little excessive when I research...
Over this last year or so the severity of the leak has progressed along with other indicators in the heart. I've also started to experience some subtle symptoms of the valve disease. Working with my cardiologist, it's become apparent the time has come to get this thing fixed.
After meeting with several surgeons, we've decided to go to the best of the best. We'll be traveling to the Cleveland Clinic for a July 3rd, 2017 surgery date. Cleveland Clinic is one of the top heart hospitals in the world.
I've decided to take my chances with an aortic valve repair as opposed to the standard mechanical valve or bio-prosthetic (cow/pig) valve replacement. This is a very technical procedure and very few surgeons are performing it. Even fewer surgeons perform it regularly...and well. For this reason I've chosen Dr. Lars Svensson, at the Cleveland Clinic. He's kind of a big deal. Check him out if you want. He has a super cool South African accent which automatically gives him credibility in my eyes. Plus, he's all over YouTube so he must be good.
More to follow in future posts about the disease, the procedure and why we chose IT over the standard options, and why Cleveland.
We'll be leaving Colorado on June 27th as a family unit. There'll be pre-op appointments and tests the rest of the week and then will go for surgery on July 3rd. This will be be a full open heart extravaganza, which includes stopping the heart and putting it on cardiopulmonary bypass. I'll be in the hospital 5-7 days if all goes well, then be discharged to spend a couple more nights in a hotel before flying home. We are tentatively planning on returning home July 12th. The two girls will fly back on the 5th. It really sounds worse than it is. They've gotten pretty good at it. The heart actually starts back up most of the time!
The intent of this blog is to provide information to friends and family, chronicle the journey, and possibly provide a resource to people who may be faced with this in the future. In no way is it to solicit sympathy, money, or even casseroles ↙😄 (whiskey maybe). Encouragement is appreciated, but no sympathy please! We got this!! My fire department family is welcomed and encouraged to give me as much shit as you would if I was sitting at the dinner table with you!
I also want to utilize the blog to keep myself accountable in my healing and rehab. It'll be a tool to help return me to full duty. Lord knows no firefighter looks forward to light duty!
I'm so lucky to have a fantastic support system with Amber and the girls, along with both of our families, and my fire department family. You can look forward to Amber jumping in and providing her perspective and updates, as she is also an author of this blog. She'll be the one to make this thing worth reading!
If you've made it this far, wow, impressive! Thanks for the support we've already received. Feel free to subscribe and check in occasionally for the latest developments.
Eric
Really though, I have a bicuspid aortic valve, which is a very frequent and fixable heart defect. It's actually the most common type of heart defect, present in about 1-2% of the population. It's likely some of you have it, too. Most people live an entire lifetime never knowing they have it, or there is no need to do anything about it. Mine just happens to be causing some problems.
It all started about 10 years ago at a routine fire department physical when the doctor nonchalantly asked, "how long have you had this heart murmur"? Bomb...drop! I was already freaking out about turning 30 and then came this validation. I was referred to a cardiologist who diagnosed the bicuspid aortic valve. At that point it was already at the moderate-severe level of leakage. It would inevitably need to be fixed some day, but we would just monitor it for the time being.
Although just knowing about pending open heart surgery was enough to cause occasional anxiety and sometimes an extra glass of wine or three, it didn't affect the way I lived. Since diagnosis, I've run numerous races, including a marathon and a handful of half marathons and others, have done a bunch of mountain biking, backpacking, and continued to do the job I love without restriction. I've also had lots of time to research my situation. People that really know me know that I'm a little excessive when I research...
Over this last year or so the severity of the leak has progressed along with other indicators in the heart. I've also started to experience some subtle symptoms of the valve disease. Working with my cardiologist, it's become apparent the time has come to get this thing fixed.
After meeting with several surgeons, we've decided to go to the best of the best. We'll be traveling to the Cleveland Clinic for a July 3rd, 2017 surgery date. Cleveland Clinic is one of the top heart hospitals in the world.
I've decided to take my chances with an aortic valve repair as opposed to the standard mechanical valve or bio-prosthetic (cow/pig) valve replacement. This is a very technical procedure and very few surgeons are performing it. Even fewer surgeons perform it regularly...and well. For this reason I've chosen Dr. Lars Svensson, at the Cleveland Clinic. He's kind of a big deal. Check him out if you want. He has a super cool South African accent which automatically gives him credibility in my eyes. Plus, he's all over YouTube so he must be good.
More to follow in future posts about the disease, the procedure and why we chose IT over the standard options, and why Cleveland.
We'll be leaving Colorado on June 27th as a family unit. There'll be pre-op appointments and tests the rest of the week and then will go for surgery on July 3rd. This will be be a full open heart extravaganza, which includes stopping the heart and putting it on cardiopulmonary bypass. I'll be in the hospital 5-7 days if all goes well, then be discharged to spend a couple more nights in a hotel before flying home. We are tentatively planning on returning home July 12th. The two girls will fly back on the 5th. It really sounds worse than it is. They've gotten pretty good at it. The heart actually starts back up most of the time!
The intent of this blog is to provide information to friends and family, chronicle the journey, and possibly provide a resource to people who may be faced with this in the future. In no way is it to solicit sympathy, money, or even casseroles ↙😄 (whiskey maybe). Encouragement is appreciated, but no sympathy please! We got this!! My fire department family is welcomed and encouraged to give me as much shit as you would if I was sitting at the dinner table with you!
I also want to utilize the blog to keep myself accountable in my healing and rehab. It'll be a tool to help return me to full duty. Lord knows no firefighter looks forward to light duty!
I'm so lucky to have a fantastic support system with Amber and the girls, along with both of our families, and my fire department family. You can look forward to Amber jumping in and providing her perspective and updates, as she is also an author of this blog. She'll be the one to make this thing worth reading!
If you've made it this far, wow, impressive! Thanks for the support we've already received. Feel free to subscribe and check in occasionally for the latest developments.
Eric
You got this Eric!
ReplyDeleteThanks guys!
DeleteWe love you Eric!!! We will be praying for a speedy recovery after your big surgery! You have a wonderful wife by your side and family and friends that love you. We wish that we lived closer, and will do all that we can to be of support from Illinois. You will be back on that truck in no time! <3
ReplyDelete-The Moline Linnenburgers
Thanks so much! Love you guys, too!
Delete