Introduction

In 1997 I was diagnosed with Takayasu's Arteritis, a rare inflammation of the large arteries in the body: for me the aorta and carotid arteries.
The result was that over time I developed aortic regurgitation (a heart murmur)  and carotid stenosis (narrowing of my carotid arteries leading to the brain).
Despite this I have been able to pursue a career as a mountaineering instructor and outdoor educator for the past 14 years, and pursue my own mountaineering, climbing and kayaking adventures.
I recently underwent open heart surgery, replacing my aortic root and valve.
I have not been able to find much information on heart defects and their impact on activities for young, fit people such as myself, nor have I found a recovery regime for open heart surgery for young fit people.
This blog is intended to provide information on my experiences of the disease, treatment and surgery, and how I am recovering.
I hope this is of use to others who are or may be in a similar situation in the future.

Another guy who has a very good forum for info on heart valve surgery specifically is Adam Pick http://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/about-adam-pick-author-heart-valve.php

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anxiety and Fractures

Image
The little boy was sat cuddled on the lap of a young woman. I presumed she was his mother. She wasn’t. He was about 2 and a half, a toddler. He looked about the right size for a toddler, not undernourished and small like so many of his peers.   He seemed comfortable enough, sat sideways across her lap, she was cuddling him but didn’t make a fuss, he was equally calm, eyes half closed as I approached. The triage sheet simply stated: “PVA” - this is “pedestrian vehicle accident”, i.e. pedestrian hit by vehicle. He had been carried on his mother’s back when she was struck by a vehicle, I presume a car. There was no witness from the scene, and the mother was apparently elsewhere in the emergency department being treated for her injuries – though when I searched later I could not find any sign of her.   The child had apparently been flung some distance from the mother and landed on tarmac, this was all I could glean from the lady caring for him, she shrugged whe...
Read more

Arriving for surgery

I arrived at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford on Tues 19th August. Since knowing I was due to have the operation, and that I would be out of action for a few months afterwards, I had wanted to get the most from the previous months. I had plenty of evenings and weekends rock climbing, running and cycling. Worked for a couple of weeks running mountain courses at Plas y Brenin - where Mo & I could get out climbing in the evenings and weekends too. In July I went to the Alps for a couple of weeks with my best mate - dodging thunderstorms and doing some climbing and mountaineering. I had made the most of the summer, and tried to ready myself psychologically for the op. I was nervous, I won't lie. I had never had an operation before let alone a very big one like this.  The surgeon Mr M had been very good at explaining the whole process with the options to me, and answered my questions honestly, but that was in May when it all still seemed a long way off. Now it was r...
Read more