Nervous for surgery on tuesday!

R

rexic1

New member
Hi there, i am brand new to this site but found it as I was desperately searching for information on the internet. I am booked for a PFO closure procedure on tuesday and I'm not sure i'm making the right decision. I'm hoping some of you out there will have more information for me to digest over the weekend.

A little about myself...its an unusual story!!!
I am 34 years old and my PFO was diagnosed 4 years ago when I suffered from the 'bends' scuba diving. I spent 4 days in a hyperbaric chamber. At that time, my decompression doctors told me I should never scuba dive again, that due to the PFO i was at a greater risk of having another episode. I also used to get very bad headaches when I dove.

My PFO is small, it only opens when I valsalva.

For the last 4 years i have thrown myself into freediving....breath hold diving. I have competed on Team Canada for 2 years and been to the world championships twice. Now that my depths are getting deeper, 50+m, I have heard some doctors saying that I should have my PFO closed....but these were doctors who were not cardiologists and who were doing studies on our lungs and spleens. So...I went to see a cardiac surgeon here and the conversation was very quick. Basically he said if I continued to freedive, iwould be at a greater risk than the average person for having a stroke, or something similar. So the decision for me....do i keep diving knowing this risk, or do i have my PFO closed. Is freediving riskier than the PFO closure?

So here are my questions....Is there any future complications at having this procedure done?
I know that this is a common procedure....but I'm confused as to whether I will be awake or asleep...if I'm awake...is it painful?

any information would be so appreciated!
Jill
 
Im 43, have a pfo, and had a tmi, or mini stroke in march.. I saw a specialist in Boston who leads pfo research and the correlation between the pfo and stroke.. they informed me 25% of the population has a pfo and that they are not automatically fixed. The CAN repair it, but there is no proof it will prevent another stroke. We chose to leave it alone.. How did your surgery go?
 
hi icehuts

did you go for your surgery. how do you feel? I am currently debating getting a tee to discover if I am eligible for pfo surgery. I had a stroke and they think it is pfo related.

Any info you can give me will be greatly appreciated. I am much older than you and know how you feel about being scared. I am on aspirin regimine but cannot tolerate it much longer.
 
I saw a specialist in Boston.. Dr Carey Kimmelsteil , and a neurologist, Dr Thaler.. at Tufts Medical. I spent 4 hours with them.. I had a stroke also.. 25% of the population has a pfo. 30% of people that have strokes, have no underlying medical reason.. out of those 30%, 40% of them have a pfo. We asked repeatedly if its something that should be repaired.. without saying yes or no, the neurologist said he cannot tell us that. So many people live with this pfo and have no problems whatsoever.. . They asked us to participate in a study.. half stay on blood thinners, the other half have the surgery to repair the pfo.. which by the way, they repair it by going up thru your vein in your leg. Should they need to go back in or something goes wrong with the repair, the only way to fix is via open heart surgery. We opted to not participate. Unless they could tell us it had to be repaired and if it wasnt I would have another stroke, we did not want opt to have that type of risky surgery.

In my case, they believe that I just had a "perfect storm" every day, our bodies make blood clots, that disintigrate thru our blood. I just happened to have had a clot travel thru the pfo, and the only place for it to go, was up.. Into my head.. causing the stroke.. Same stroke that Teddy Bruschi of the Patriots had. The blood thinners are creating havoc in my life.. My monthly cycle is out of control. I have my period for about 18 days every month... and it seems to be getting worse. That part is awful. But, the pfo part, Ive been taking my medication, and I feel just fine. I felt much better after discussing with the doctors. Its not something that absolutely MUST be repaired or another stroke will occur. According to them, there is no proof of that. Also because 25% of the population has it, if it was related to stroke, 1 out of 4 people we know, would have a stroke!! makes sense. So I chose to leave mine. What did your doctor say about it? Did he say it had to be repaired?
 
icehuts

Hi. Well this info is helpful. I had an episode in end of April this year 2010.
I went to emer room they said pfo. Havent had TEE yet. Neurologist says dont have closure. He might change his mind next year but right now doesnt approve.

I have dizziness all the time. Numbness in legs comes and goes. Am on cholesterol drugs, am having a real hard time with aspirin think its causing bleeding am losing weight, have vision issues that come and go. Have fatigue occasionally, but other than that no after effects.

Are you on Coumadin? What medications does the doc have you on?

But other than that I feel fine.
 
Most likely the closure will be performed with an occlusion device like an amplatzer via a venal catheterization. This is a good thing as you don't have to go through the hassle of an arterial catheterization and your recovery is much faster. You could be put under a general anesthesia or local depending on your cardio's preference. If a TEE is going to be performed along with the closure expect the general.
You'll be up and about the same day with a little tenderness in the groin from the catheter. Your doctor may prescribe Plavix and/or aspirin for about 6 months although this is not necessarily the case either. Expect to be back to a lightened normal life in about a week, no contact sports or heavy lifting for a month, and no dental work for 6 months.
The device is non-ferrous so there will be no worries about an MRI or metal detector.
 
Im only on Plavix, 75mg.. and I take Propanolol... 20 mg, 2x a day.. I dont have any of the syptoms your experiencing .. The day I had my stroke, the only issue I had, was I lost my peripheal vision in my left eye.. I thought I was having an ocular migraine, so I didnt think anything of it.. when I started seeing freaky shapes and things, even when Ihad my eyes closed, I decided to call the dr... unfortunately, it was 3 days later I saw him! Again, i just thought I was having the visual migraine.. did not have the classic stroke symptoms... Im not having any issue with weight, or the tingling...I had a million dollar work up in the hospital, as they were trying to pinpoint.. cat scans, mri's.. only thing was the pfo.. and I was incredibly anemic.. which I already knew... . my only true complaint as I say, is my monthly cycle.. Because of the blood thinner it makes it so much worse.. uncontrollable bleeding.. very very bad... that lasts up to 19 days... lord have mercy!

My neurologist I saw was perfectly ok with leaving the pfo as is... as was the cardiologist.. are you from around the mass area? Dr Carey Kimmelsteil is world renowned and leading the research on pfo and relationship to cryogenic stroke..If your close to Mass, it maybe worth something to have your doctor contact his office.. Because they asked me to participate in a study, they provided me with much info about pfo, stroke, and the procedure itself on closing it.. I kept it.. but I could mail it to you if you would like.. It may be helpful to you ... .Let me know!!
 
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