Thanks for this Adam. I had my Ross Procedure in August of 2022 and heart attack due to a kinked LAD less than a year later. I experienced the "restrained, confined environment" of a hospital both times; the second time the facilities were much better (Single room, more supportive staff, better food), and I was able to cope better. The hospitalization following surgery greatly impacted my mental health in a negative way and worsened my clinical depression/anxiety. I know my surgery was needed and has given me more time here on earth, but the cost was high. I'm now dealing with cognitive issues that may or may not be a consequence of the valve surgery. I may never know for sure.
Hi Msaprilconquest, Thanks for sharing your story and your experiences with our patient community. We are sorry to learn of the cognitive challenges you are facing following your Ross Procedure and your heart attack. Our thoughts are with you!!! By the way, have you seen this video about the patient mind before and after heart surgery. It's interesting to see how some medical centers are building out resources to treat both the body and the mind - ua-cam.com/video/jfO5DTvNIkQ/v-deo.html. Hope that helps! ❤❤❤
Regardless of the cause, it is a very real phenomenon. I have had four open-heart surgeries during my lifetime to replace several valves. After the last surgery five years ago, I had severe cognitive issues, including memory loss, confusion, anxiety, and depression. While the anxiety and depression have disappeared, I still suffer from short term memory loss and events of confusion on occasion.
57yr M Had my second open heart surgery day after Thanksgiving 2022. A Blood infection ate my aortic and mitral valves so I had first surgery to replace them. A few months later felt bad again and found out I had dehiscence of the mitral valve and I had to have second surgery to replace both again. 'Pumphead' explains soo many things now as to why my emotions have been all over the place, even now. Memory, depression, anger, memory loss which I had already typed..other oddities which could also be related..me being regular first time in my life and the testosterone I now seem to have extra of..its been a strange trip indeed..thank you for giving it a name..IMA Pumphead
I had a Quadruple Bypass 10 years ago, at 40 years old. It went well, I was back home in 4 or 5 days. For a while, the only thing that bothered me was, the heart attack that I survived, is way more often than not, a killer. So mentally I dealt with all the near death event, getting scared ever single time I had a chest pain, and also the remaining pain left over from the surgery. Also, the situation of having the heart attack, as in, where I was or, who I was with and so on, that event, replayed over and over in my head. A few months out, I noticing, a lot of my issues, were still there, a long with new ones. My attitude, personality, moodiness, along with other things, were so different than before, totally not the person I was pre-heart attack and surgery. As time went on, all those things got worse, everyone around me could tell it too. I asked the cardiologist and the surgeon both, if there was a reason for this, and they explained somewhat, but both told me to look up this pump head thing, while also saying not to worry, those symptoms would eventually fade. I looked it up, there were no definitive answers, down to micro plastics from the machine itself. While much of it made sense, it never went away, and just became worse. It's been a little more than 10 years since surgery and I face a terrible issue with depression, anxiety, all the moodiness I spoke up, attitude, personality on a far worse level. I hope there is one day an answer, and some sort of help.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. We are sorry to hear all that you have been through. We are curious... Have you seen a a medical team about this specific issue beyond your cardiologist and/or surgeon?
same - I had a quad in August - felt pretty good but feel a slow slide since then... typing skills are WAY diminished, handwriting is terrible and struggle with things I've never struggled with before... hopefully time will heal this
@@rickowens3163 Something to consider, surgery is a huge stress on the body, when the body is stressed it can create huge amounts of cortisol and also slow down the thyroid. Over time hopefully it will get better, but if not, you may have these things checked. This is just my theory based on a few things I have studied.
For eight days after valve replacement and repair I was in an eight day fever dream. The hospital said it was anesthesia delirium but 2 years later I heard about pump head. Fortunately it was only 8 days for me
My wife had a heart valve replacement 10 years ago. She has had dementia now for at least 6 years...I would say their is truth to this subject. And they don't tell you pumphead is possible! Keeping your blood thinned with WARFARIN is an art. Keeping your blood thinned in INR range requires constant blood tests or else...mini strokes and dementia it appears to me from our experience!
Many have PTSD after OHS from the trauma. Some think the heart lung machine is not working effectively micro particle and crushed corpuscles get in the body and it impacts people. They don't want anyone to know about it to keep people thinking it is safe.
Can you explain what it did? Had mine 4 months ago, my main issue is lack of motivation, depression. Fear of getting sick again as I have some ongoing issues and we are more prone to infection.
@@johnb4183 Our risk of endocarditis (if you got a new heart valve, not if you just had open heart) is much higher than the general population, thus why if you go to the dentist they want u to take antibiotics. I believe the life time risk is 3-6% which is actually kind of high when you think about it.
Thanks for this Adam. I had my Ross Procedure in August of 2022 and heart attack due to a kinked LAD less than a year later. I experienced the "restrained, confined environment" of a hospital both times; the second time the facilities were much better (Single room, more supportive staff, better food), and I was able to cope better. The hospitalization following surgery greatly impacted my mental health in a negative way and worsened my clinical depression/anxiety. I know my surgery was needed and has given me more time here on earth, but the cost was high. I'm now dealing with cognitive issues that may or may not be a consequence of the valve surgery. I may never know for sure.
Hi Msaprilconquest, Thanks for sharing your story and your experiences with our patient community. We are sorry to learn of the cognitive challenges you are facing following your Ross Procedure and your heart attack. Our thoughts are with you!!! By the way, have you seen this video about the patient mind before and after heart surgery. It's interesting to see how some medical centers are building out resources to treat both the body and the mind - ua-cam.com/video/jfO5DTvNIkQ/v-deo.html. Hope that helps! ❤❤❤
Regardless of the cause, it is a very real phenomenon. I have had four open-heart surgeries during my lifetime to replace several valves. After the last surgery five years ago, I had severe cognitive issues, including memory loss, confusion, anxiety, and depression. While the anxiety and depression have disappeared, I still suffer from short term memory loss and events of confusion on occasion.
Yes, we hear this type of feedback from patients who undergo bypass. Hope you are doing better now!
57yr M Had my second open heart surgery day after Thanksgiving 2022. A Blood infection ate my aortic and mitral valves so I had first surgery to replace them. A few months later felt bad again and found out I had dehiscence of the mitral valve and I had to have second surgery to replace both again. 'Pumphead' explains soo many things now as to why my emotions have been all over the place, even now. Memory, depression, anger, memory loss which I had already typed..other oddities which could also be related..me being regular first time in my life and the testosterone I now seem to have extra of..its been a strange trip indeed..thank you for giving it a name..IMA Pumphead
Good to know that this video has helped learn more about pumphead!
I had a Quadruple Bypass 10 years ago, at 40 years old. It went well, I was back home in 4 or 5 days. For a while, the only thing that bothered me was, the heart attack that I survived, is way more often than not, a killer. So mentally I dealt with all the near death event, getting scared ever single time I had a chest pain, and also the remaining pain left over from the surgery. Also, the situation of having the heart attack, as in, where I was or, who I was with and so on, that event, replayed over and over in my head.
A few months out, I noticing, a lot of my issues, were still there, a long with new ones. My attitude, personality, moodiness, along with other things, were so different than before, totally not the person I was pre-heart attack and surgery. As time went on, all those things got worse, everyone around me could tell it too. I asked the cardiologist and the surgeon both, if there was a reason for this, and they explained somewhat, but both told me to look up this pump head thing, while also saying not to worry, those symptoms would eventually fade.
I looked it up, there were no definitive answers, down to micro plastics from the machine itself. While much of it made sense, it never went away, and just became worse. It's been a little more than 10 years since surgery and I face a terrible issue with depression, anxiety, all the moodiness I spoke up, attitude, personality on a far worse level. I hope there is one day an answer, and some sort of help.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. We are sorry to hear all that you have been through. We are curious... Have you seen a a medical team about this specific issue beyond your cardiologist and/or surgeon?
I had a quadruple bypass six months ago, I do not feel the same...my memory and cognition is significantly less 😞
same - I had a quad in August - felt pretty good but feel a slow slide since then... typing skills are WAY diminished, handwriting is terrible and struggle with things I've never struggled with before... hopefully time will heal this
@@rickowens3163 I'm glad to here you feel pretty good after yours. I hope I don't ever have to go through one of these again
Same here... once is too much
@@rickowens3163 Something to consider, surgery is a huge stress on the body, when the body is stressed it can create huge amounts of cortisol and also slow down the thyroid. Over time hopefully it will get better, but if not, you may have these things checked. This is just my theory based on a few things I have studied.
Sorry to hear you are struggling with memory and cognition after your coronary artery bypass surgery!!!
For eight days after valve replacement and repair I was in an eight day fever dream. The hospital said it was anesthesia delirium but 2 years later I heard about pump head. Fortunately it was only 8 days for me
Glad to hear you only experienced symptoms of pumphead for 8 days.
My wife had a heart valve replacement 10 years ago. She has had dementia now for at least 6 years...I would say their is truth to this subject. And they don't tell you pumphead is possible! Keeping your blood thinned with WARFARIN is an art. Keeping your blood thinned in INR range requires constant blood tests or else...mini strokes and dementia it appears to me from our experience!
So very sorry to hear all that your wife and you have been through.
Had open heart surgery a few months ago. I am completely different now. Anxiety, extreme memory loss, gait disturbance. It is so bad i am on fmla
Many have PTSD after OHS from the trauma. Some think the heart lung machine is not working effectively micro particle and crushed corpuscles get in the body and it impacts people. They don't want anyone to know about it to keep people thinking it is safe.
So sorry to learn of this!
I think I had pump head before the surgery. lol! I feel so much better now. I think the pump head will improve over time👍
Hey Jerome, Great to hear you feeling better after surgery! 😀
@@HeartValveSurgery Thank you so much Adam! Your doing a real good work. It helped me so much.😊
I had a Ross procedure 9 days ago. I have had horrible pump head since my surgery. I keep waiting and hoping for it to improve. 🥹
We hope you are feeling better Lacresia!
19 yrs ago I had my OHS, and I’ve never been the same. The Dr was so dismissive. Sad, this is where the problem lies.🫤
Can you explain what it did? Had mine 4 months ago, my main issue is lack of motivation, depression. Fear of getting sick again as I have some ongoing issues and we are more prone to infection.
More prone to infection ?, have not heard that one yet. Hope your doing well now.
@@johnb4183 Our risk of endocarditis (if you got a new heart valve, not if you just had open heart) is much higher than the general population, thus why if you go to the dentist they want u to take antibiotics.
I believe the life time risk is 3-6% which is actually kind of high when you think about it.
So sorry Crivas! Thoughts are with you!