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SN children

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Original poster

What a week.....

13 replies

eidsvold · 28/04/2005 07:32

We seem to have highs followed by amazing lows. Dd1 walking by herself - BRILLIANT...

dh - health scare. He had been having chest pains so the GP sent him for all sorts of tests - we have since learnt that he has basically - leaky valves in his heart. Has probably had them all his life - in fact congenital heart defect!! Have been on tenterhooks all weekend as he had to see a specialist wondering if he needed surgery - thinking how the hell am I going to cope with him in hospital and the two dd's... and trying to keep it altogether. No one I can really call on to look after the dd's whilst I sit at the hospital all the time with dh.....

He had his appt this morning and would not let me go with him... I couldn't get anyone to look after the dd's so I couldn't go anyway.

Some positive news I guess.... he does not need surgery YET maybe in fifteen years or so... depending on the state of the leak. He has to have another echo to check exactly how leaky the valves are before they decide any further. He also has to have cardiac medication for the rest of his life and needs to carry a medic alert card the same as dd1 regarding him having special antibiotics etc during surgery and so on.

I feel a little silly moaning knowing there are others who have worse things than me to deal with BUT dh would not let me say anything to anyone until we knew for sure what was going on and I have been going nuts not being able to say anything. I can't believe he has managed to go this long without it being picked up.

In all of that - the irony - the chest pains are not related to this in any way!!!

Okay - I feel much better now I have got that out of my system. Thanks for listening as you guys do.

OP posts:

KarenThirl · 28/04/2005 13:43

Blimey, it never rains, does it? How's he feeling now, since he's found out the cause?

Original poster

eidsvold · 28/04/2005 13:58

he feels fine which is the silly thing.

He was incredibly worried esp at the prospect of surgery - later rather than sooner is okay. It also made a few things that have happened in terms of his health earlier on make sense....episodes of light headedness, funny pains etc at 18 yo which the GP dismissed as being nothing.

He will definitely need surgery - but not for a while yet.

OP posts:

maddiemo · 28/04/2005 14:16

Pleased to hear that dd is walking

Sorry to hear about dh, it must be a relief to know what is wrong even though the thought of surgery is worrying for him.

KarenThirl · 28/04/2005 16:00

Better to know about it than not, I reckon. Will he have to modify his lifestyle in the meantime?

Davros · 28/04/2005 16:06

Sorry to hear this Eidsvold. Will he have medication in the meantime or lifestyle changes as maddie says (I seem to be stalking her at the mo'!)

Davros · 28/04/2005 16:06

It was Karen anyway....

Pages · 28/04/2005 16:18

So sorry Eidsvold, what a rollercoaster week. Wishing your DH well. How is DD1 getting on with the walking? I am very jealous - my DS still isn't there...

anniebear · 28/04/2005 16:47

Sorry to hear about DH, hope he is ok

xxxxxx

JakB · 28/04/2005 18:27

So sorry to hear about DH. Sending hugs {{hugs}}Life, eh?

Original poster

eidsvold · 28/04/2005 22:10

thanks so much for your thoughts. At this stage they are trialling a medication for him - very mild dosage to see how that goes over the next couple of weeks. Then another echo and a stress test ( bit scary - small no of people have heart attacks during this test!! ) Then see the consultant again.

The medication is for life.. and no active sport like rugby, football ( which he used to play!!) he had also taken up mountain biking - the consultant did say that if he had already been doing it then it might be okay - he just has to be aware of his body!! Breathlessness is a worry - if he gets that. Otherwise everything else is as usual.

For those of you who have a medical background - he has a mitral valve prolapse... maybe surgery on that - but generally not a big deal. Also has a bicuspid aortic valve ( should have a tricuspid). This is the one that will need surgery at a later date - also the congenital aspect of his heart defect/condition.

IT just seems so weird as he has always been so active and healthy and fine... very rarely ill or injured. strange huh!

On the plus - dd1 is walking a bit by herself but she is very keen to walk with a little support - which she was doing rather sporadically before. Still a long way from wandering around the shops or running in the park!!!

OP posts:

coppertop · 28/04/2005 22:14

I think the thread title says it all. What a week!

I'm glad to hear that dh will (touchwood!) not need surgery for a long time. Still a shock though, I bet.

Thomcat · 28/04/2005 22:15

Blimey poor you and poor DH, so sorry you've had that to contend with when you should have both just been happy chasing after DD, wwhich is wonderful, wonderful news btw
Wishing DH much better.

KarenThirl · 29/04/2005 09:49

It might help to know that a lot of cardiac surgery is really straightforward these days and carries few risks. It's not the huge deal it used to be a few years back. A friend's little girl aged six had minor heart surgery a couple of months back, and it took ten minutes and she was back in school the next day. My mate asked if she should keep her dd off and the consultant looked at her as if she was mad, sort of "What, for a little procedure like that?!"

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