This is a First for Me...

They certainly don't rush into things...

I was lucky... I usually opt to see our PA over the doctor, for that very reason. He's an avid cyclist, and gets it...

 

Saw the cardiologist the other day.. He used big words, like "aortic stenosis" and "carotid bruitts." (Narrowing of the aortic valve and turbulence in the carotid artery, respectively).

What that means is the ticker isn't at 100%. Gotta have a stress echocardiogram in a week or so to nail it down as to whether it's blockage, the valve, or something else. But I was cleared to ride the bike in the meantime; just have to watch how hard I push it.

 

Great to see you're riding again.

 

Glad to hear you are cleared to ride and close to a diagnosis that way you can get the appropiate treatment .

 

So I did the stress echocardiograph, and it turns out I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve. Has only two leaflets instead the normal three, and it narrows at the outlet to the aorta. The cardiologist said if I was a competitive athlete he'd recommend a valve job now, but since I'm not we'll just monitor it. Doc says I'm in otherwise great cardiovascular shape for age 54 and keep doing what I'm doing, thank (insert favored deity), but it will get progressively harder to climb or to just do long rides. I volunteer to be sweep on any rides I join.

I'll probably have to have the valve replaced in the next 5-10 years - beats the alternative hands down. This explains why I've never been a distance runner, and why, no matter how much I train and ride the bike, there are rides I'll just never be able to do because the stamina due to the heart simply isn't there. It never will be. Darn good thing I'm okay with that; it's good to know why.

 

Good to know what's up in there.

I'm wondering why you wouldn't go ahead and do the surgery now (other than the obvious – being in the system sucks). Not for being "competitive," but for your own safety in/out of the b/c. If it's a known and somewhat common condition, is the surgery to repair it also not well established and routine? Surgery is more risky with age. I'd lean toward getting the work done ASAP and not being restricted for the next 5-10 years and looking at a potentially tougher recovery.

I'm sure you have rationale. Glad you are digging into it.

 

Surgery has some risk, and I'll defer to the expert on this stuff. He recommended waiting until the benefits outweigh the risks. These days they generally don't crack the chest open to fix this, but go through femoral artery with a catheter and fix it that way. I like that much better.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Still not getting why your doc would want you, an active athlete, to live 5-10 years in a restricted mode – doubly so if the procedure is minimally invasive. It sounds like he is having you wait until the conditions gets so bad that it becomes a must-do (increased "benefit"). And the risks won't be decreasing with time – just the opposite. At the very least I would get another pro opinion. Maybe simplistic thinking, but I say get stuff fixed while you are still young and very active. In ten years you might think you really don't need that extra stamina; you might become less active for a different reason. My suspicion is your doc thinks you have done okay up to now, so you should gut it out another decade and, potentially, skip the surgery altogether. Is he an athlete?

Best wishes for progress...

 

And now for the rest of the story...

Apparently there are some things that they just can't figure out. No one has been able to tell me why I lost 19 lbs over 3 months. However, now that I'm at my ideal weight anyway (151 lbs) I kinda figure I'll stay there.

I had my last appointment with the endocrinologist today. He could not quite believe that all my blood results were back to normal, including my AIC at 5.5 and blood sugar at 98 - which means I am not pre-diabetic. The MRI of my pituitary gland shows I have no issues with that or the rest of the brain (Reading that report was interesting). The liver function being perfectly normal again seemed to baffle him too. He actually asked me if I had been taking any supplements that mimic steroids, or steroids themselves and when I said no, never, he seemed skeptical. Whatever, dude - when I tell you the only change between then and now is cessation (or near cessation; I might have one every couple weeks) of beer intake, then that's the only change.

I guess there are some things I'll just never know. I feel great, don't seem to have any reduction in stamina compared to before (although that will come), and I can still get out there and ride up hills. I'll never be as fast as J & Faust, or a bunch of other IMTBTers but that's okay. I can still make it to the top. One of these days I'll tag along on the Thursday evening B* ride too.

So between the GP, neurologist, endocrinologist, and cardiologist we've determined that I have a congenital heart condition that will need surgery in 5-10 years, and that's it. Finding that out makes the whole episode worthwhile, but man it's difficult sometimes to get info out of MDs.

Their assistants aren't very forthcoming either. I had to ask every single time for them to tell me my BP, pulse rate, temperature, etc.

That's why I blamed it all on the beer.

 

I am having the same problems also. As soon as i went back to work from the broken ankle, My voice started going horse. Went to my GP and they give me prescription zyrtec, maybe it's allerigies from this clean air here in Bako. Well a month goes by and nothing.

Get referred to an ENT and he thinks it's GIRT or acid reflux. He scopes my throat and everything looks normal. Two months of taking omeprazole and nothing. He calls for an cat scan of my neck. Finally getting along now.

Well I am at my GP and she has the results of my cat scan and my is thyroid enlarged. So i go to see the Endo and she does a biopsy of the thyroid to see if its cancer. Its not.

But when I go to the Endo for the consult of my tests and what not. She tells me my thyroid is the biggest she ever seen. Normal thyroid size is 5cm and mine is......12.5, nearly three times the size of a normal thyroid. So next month I have an appointment at UCLA to speak to a thyroid specialist about removing the complete thyroid.

It's so big that it's hard to eat, breathe and ride. Since the thyroid is pressing on the esophagus and i sound like Marge Simpson. I can't wait for people on the phone to stop calling me ma'am.

 

Dan, best of luck on getting this figured out. They call the thyroid the master gland, but it takes its orders from the pituitary also. Before you let them yank your thyroid and put you on pills the rest of your life, have them check out your pituitary if they haven't already done so - it's the true "master gland." (I learned way more about this than I ever thought I would).

 

Yeah, I am bringing my mother with me who was a surgical nurse for years to question everything, but it also seems to be the norm from all the reading I have done. Thanks though.

 

Best wishes to get this sorted out in the least invasive way possible, @Danmtchl

 

Thanks

 

Well tomorrow is the big surgery (thyroidectomy) and hopefully things will go back to normal. Not really nervous, just want it over and done with.

 

Good luck.

 

Best of luck.

 

Good luck... And here's to a speedy recovery...

 

Good luck Dan, hope to see ya on the trails soon.

 

Best of luck and heal quick!

 

@Danmtchl: Keep infusing your positive attitude into the situation, along with your due diligence. Best wishes for the best outcome, pal.

 

@Danmtchl Thoughts and prayers with you my IMTB brother! I hope they don't remove that bike in your skull (avatar).

 

Here's what I know from what my Dad went through at age 47. He was feeling fatigued for months and months and he was peeing constantly. It turned out that the frequent peeing was a sign of diabetes. He ignored it for too long and it became serious. He lost lots of weight in a short period. If I recall (in the case of diabetes), since the pancreas no longer release enzymes, the food was no longer processed properly so the body was starving to death, literally. The body basically feeds on itself (fat and muscle) to survive and you lose weight rapidly.

All of this is usually reversible if you change your lifestyle soon enough and it sounds like you did.

Glad to hear you got things back in order.