A little info to get us started

Hi All, im a 31yo male living in Australia for the last 29 years and recently got myself the latest fashion craze, the MHV and thought id share a little.

so my story goes like this, born with a congenital heart defect i had my first surgery at 11weeks old, this kept me in good health untill i was 19yo when i started to show signs of needing  another surgery due to severe arotic regurgitation. so in 2000 i had my aortic valve replaced with a pig valve ( i had actually gone down to the table to have a ross procedure but the surgeon changed it at the last minuet)at St Vincents in sydney.Despite some post op complications with infections and bleeds the pig valve held well for 11 years through wich time i had continued to play full contact rugby league and union, boxed and rode horses as well as anything else that popped into my head.

for seemingly no reason i began getting short of breath and light headed with the slightest of exercise so a trip to the cardiologist found i had severe aortic stenosis and a dangeriously diolated aortic root (i think) so i was booked back into st vincents in syd where i had an aortic valve redo with a bentalls procedure. the surgery went well and i was back home on my 7th day post op. despite being home weeks earlier than the last time i found it much harder to adjust due to being so concious of the heartbeat and its tendency to thump or speed up when i would stand or sit or even adjust my sitting position. sleeping was near impossible and i struggled to get back into a routine for around 8 weeks from getting home.

while the surgery was a great success i have found a great mental stress that comes with the MHV and learning to live with it. After a number of trips to the GP and even the EDwith  concerns about my eregular heart beats and seemingly racing rythems, i found a great deal of comfort from this site and reading other peoples accounts of similar issues and im finding it easier to deal with what by all accounts seems to be anxiety issues, you would think one of the doctors might have mentiond that haha.

anyway thanks to all that post as you have been a big help to me :)