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Is heavy cardio exercise ok after aortic valve replacement
My 74 year old wife had open heart surgery to replace her aortic valve with a bovine valve due to some calcification. She was 67 at the time and was an age group winner in triathlons for 20 years up to that point including full ironman. She is no longer competing, but we still do a lot of pretty serious training with biking in the aerobic and anaerobic zones. Is there an issue with stressing the heart that severely after having the surgery?
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I would emphatically say....probably not. Assuming the repair was properly done, and that it has healed and settled in properly, your wife's heart would best not lose much in the way of its former fitness if at all possible. There is more to QOL than just feeling well, or even great; there is a comfortable and familiar routine that matters, choices in activity and diversion, associations with others who are like-minded, and feeling like one has autonomy and a purpose. All of these will continue to be afforded to your wife if she pursues them.
I don't know much about the expected life of the bovine valve, but if we have a heart properly repaired AND rehabed, then I would guess the future is rather bright.
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5 Reactions@bshattuck138 This is DEFINITELY a question for your wife's cardiologist, who has her complete medical history at hand. It would be irresponsible for anyone else to make a recoemmendation.
Has she asked her doctor? There are physical therapists who specialize in getting people back into training after surgery or injury. Can you request a referral to one who will set her up with a safe progressive program?
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2 ReactionsWe've been training hard for several years since her surgery so it's not like it's new for her. We have spoken to her cardiologist but I'm not sure if we impressed upon him the aggressiveness of our training. It's just what we've done for many years.
She has an appointment in a month. I think in the meantime, I'll use the portal to prep her doc with the question.
Thank you for your response.
sTeve