A Shocking 16 Days In June

I have decided to write about this personal experience of mine with hopes it might help someone out there in the universe that might read this or have a friend or family member send it to them to read. Maybe like me, they don't have symptoms of any heart issues but can feel something isn't right. I hope my story can lead them to getting checked out and possibly saving their life. 

This story started actually September 5th, 2019 as I lay on a bike path after having my back bicycle tire slide out from under me in some loose sandy gravel as I turned onto a bike path. I broke a femur and shattered my hip that day. By that night the hip surgeon had found from my echocardiogram that I also had Aortic Valve Stenosis. I was schedule for a hip replacement at 7am the next morning. 

I had never heard of Aortic Valve Stenosis nor did I know I had it.

I found out a few months later that the measurement was an interpretation, then this past month I found it was an actual measurement determined by the nurse that does the echocardiogram. She said there is a 3 number formula to determine that gap. Anyway in September 2019 my valve measurement was 0.9 cm-2. Labeled as serious.

I will not go into detail in the months that followed in 2019 but when I moved from Arizona in May 2021, it was 1.1 cm-2, interpretation from a different echocardiogram and a different cardiologist. It had moved from serious to checking it with an annual echocardiogram. 

I knew it would get smaller and eventually I would need to replace the aortic valve. Like I told 5 different cardiologist in Arizona ... when I have the symptoms I will call you, otherwise leave me alone. I will and did continue to ride my bike as much as possible.

Built up calcium is what kept my valve from working efficiently. The four flaps would not move in a normal action with each heart beat, meaning all the blood was not being pumped to my body. Like I said before ... they would ask me if I ever felt this or that, a list of symptoms ... I never did ... Until March 2024.

You might remember me writing about not able to mow my yard for the first time ever in March 2024, with my Toro self propelled push mower ... without taking a break after 9 minutes. Then another break and another. I got the yard mowed that day but I was seriously wondering what was going on. I had even went inside to lie down on a few of those breaks. 

I decided to buy this John Deere a few weeks later so I could get the yard mowed without having to take breaks.

The other sign something was wrong, was when I was riding my bike. Where as before 2024 I could ride long miles 20-25 mile rides with a consistent speed averaging 13-17mph ... but not last spring. I told my friend it didn't feel like my muscles were getting the oxygen they need to ride like I did the year before and I was having a real hard time climbing small hills for the first time. Plus I was having a hard time keeping up with him.

Was I ignoring a symptom, hoping it wasn't what I thought it was?

Fast forward to this past February 2025. I spent days cutting down small trees, saplings and moving their tree trunks and limbs by hand along the berm. I'd work between 1-2 hours and never felt tired nor did I need to take a break like the previous year. Things must be fine. 

Everything you see laying on the ground, I cut down at ground level.

In April, the day I spread out 15 bags of mulch, by bag 12 I had to stop, lean against the fence and wonder  "is this it" ... I thought I was having a heart attack. I went inside to get some water and out of curiosity I took my blood pressure. 

There was more than 15 bags though. I had to load the 15 bags from the pallet at Lowe's to their pallet cart. Then from their cart into my car. Then from the car to the garage floor. Then 3-4 bags at a time into the wheelbarrow out to the flowerbed.

That is a lot of weight lifting. 

I took three back to back blood pressure readings once I got inside. My heart rate never got above 111 bpm. But my blood pressure readings were numbers I had never seen before ... 86/55 -- 95/64 -- 81/67 ... wild numbers. After a hot shower, 40oz of water and some rest laying down it was back to 112/71 ... things are good. I decided that episode was not an heart issue since there was no pain ... but dehydration. I had not had any breakfast, only coffee and some water. 

Yet, I had never felt anything like that ever. Was I ignoring symptoms of AVS?

A month later I call the VA for a physical, bloodwork and hopefully an echocardiogram. I was guessing with my past stenosis diagnosis, they would also recommend an echocardiogram.

Well May 20th is when this story changes  .... Not only has my aortic valve decreased to 0.6 cm-2, it shows that I have heart failure. Not quite six years since diagnosed but it had decreased 0.1 cm-2 per year and that is a normal rate.

I always told myself if it got to 0.5 cm-2, I would have it replaced even if I had not had symptoms. I kept telling myself and friends I did not have symptoms ... but I did ... shortness of breath.

Shortness of breath in March 2024 mowing the yard, trying to ride a bike last spring and fall 2024, the heart issue in April laying mulch ... plus ... I couldn't walk Cletus or any hound or dog more than 5 minutes without needing to stop and even sit down for a short break.

THAT IS A SYMPTOM !!!

In the meantime my Apple Watch was detecting low heart rates almost nightly while I slept. The default setting is anything less than 40 bpm for 10 minutes of longer. A couple of years ago I set up a spreadsheet to track those warnings.

2024 - Averaged 5 days per month and 14 warnings per month

2025 - Averaged 10 days per month and 40 warnings per month

June 1 - June 12 of this year I had one every night while sleeping and a total of 64 warnings !!!

So I find out on May 20th that my heart shows signs of heart failure in addition to a valve that is now open only 0.6 cm-2. My LVEF (left ventricle ejection fraction) was down to 40% ... below normal. In 2019 that LVEF was 68% .... which is the percent of blood pumped out of the left ventricle of each heartbeat.

A rude concerning awakening.

The VA cardiologist told me only what I needed to hear but after seeing the timeline and how fast things were scheduled and finished I could tell it was serious. By comparison my old friend up the street that is a long time swimmer, bike rider, great diet and has never smoked or drank alcohol ... found out he had a heart issue in March ... he does not have a "fix" surgery schedule until October at the same hospital I went to.

Me ... May 20th found out about the heart failure ... the morning of June 27th I am home with everything fixed. 

She recommended me to a friend of hers that she said was a good cardiologist. "I normally would not replace your valve now even at 0.6cm but if it is replaced, that might help with your LVEF." I looked at the paper she handed me and saw her hand written note ... "2 weeks, cath and TAVR" ... 

I will admit as I remained calm ... my life was changing and changing fast. I was more in disbelief than denial or worry. What about the hounds and dogs????

By June 9 I am seeing her friend, the cardiologist for the first time. His specialty is doing TAVR's. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement. We had a good discussion and a lot of what he was saying was matching up with my own research that I had done between May 20 to June 8. I liked his demeanor and felt confident I was going to be in good hands. 

Simple procedure, about an hour long, home next day and a week to recover ... simple.

Like I have told friends for the past five and a half years, friends that tried talking me into getting the procedure done even with no symptoms because "It is such a simple procedure anymore, you will be home the next day and they will not have to crack your chest open. You'll be back riding your bike in no time."

My reply always was ... "there is nothing simple in surgery and anything can go wrong in the simplest of surgeries ... as long as I don't have symptoms, good blood pressure, good heart rate while riding a bike ... I am not doing anything".

The morning after talking to Dr Voelkel, I was sliding into this machine for a CT Scan. The only problem was, the nurse couldn't seem to find an artery to accept the IV in my right arm. After 4 failed attempts, her boss came over to try and he struck out for the 5th attempt. He decided my left arm was better than nothing when "they prefer we use the right arm for the CT Scan". Long story short .... A clean scan, no issues found ... all good for my cardiac catheterization three days later on June 13th.

Just a simple catheterization ... but remember what I use to tell my friends ... there is nothing simple in surgery.

On June 13th as I am awake back in my room after the catheterization I was totally unaware at the time of what had happened. What the CT Scan did not pick up, the cardiac catheterization did. See that artery called Left Anterior Descending Artery ??? Mine was 95% blocked!! A surprise to Dr Voelkel and to me when they told me.

Nothing what a stent wouldn't fix. Hard to believe they did all of this through my wrist. A wrist that was not even sore days after the procedure. 

One of those 'simple' procedures that worked out well. I was home that afternoon within hours after getting this installed.

Don't leave yet ... it gets even more exciting the following Wednesday, June 18th. I was told that "Wednesdays are aortic valve replacement day" ... They do 5-6 of these every Wednesday. Very routine obviously. I was scheduled for the first surgery of the day. I was there before my appointment at 5am to check in as instructed.

I was prepped for a 7am surgery. I was not feeling any nervousness or anxiety. In fact I was a little excited to get this "simple" thing done and walk out of there the next morning with a new valve and good to go for another 20-30 years.

"There is nothing simple when it comes to surgery, no matter how routine it is" ... told to my friends over the years.

With my right arm used up, I was happy to hear they would go through my groin for the TAVR. They would NOT got through my wrists for that valve replacement anyway, still it was good that my wrist could heal. That bruising is normal after a couple of cath's were inserted previously. It took about three weeks for all of that to go away.

As you can see, a similar procedure to installing a stent ... only bigger and a longer trip from your groin to your heart. He told me they were using the largest size possible since I had a big aortic artery, their 29mm model. 

I asked him if that was from all my bicycling but he said no, it was all genetics. In my head I had told myself it would take about an hour. I did not feel nervous as I slide from my bed over to the cold metal operating table, with all the masked people preparing me for the valve replacement. Even the cold room felt good.

They said I would be sedated but alert, same as the cardiac catheterization. I remember both times but don't remember being alert enough watch the procedures either time. I did choose to take a nap though during both procedures. 

I was out then came conscious with those same masked surgical assistants undoing what they did so I could slide from the operating table back to my bed to be wheeled into a recovery room.

I remember exactly what my first words were ... "that didn't take long". I cannot remember their exact reply was but the main man asked me how I was feeling, and if I felt anything thing. Thinking that was a weird question to ask ... I answered him.

"I felt a weird feeling above or around my left eye and couldn't figure out what it was. About that same time I was trying to figure out what it was, I woke up and said that didn't take long. Nothing else was said and I was wheeled back to the same room I was in before surgery which was different than I expected.

I was soon to find out why ....

Dr Voelkel came in to brief me, that some things had happened that changed what was planned. No, my valve was NOT replaced. He was pretty sure they could fit me into their schedule that afternoon to have a pacemaker installed within the next hour or two.

Why??

As he inserted the catheter into my groin and started the path to the heart, there wasn't any blood like there should be thus there wasn't any photos on their monitor to show them how to travel up to my heart. He glanced at a different screen to see my heart rate was .....

14 bpm

Then almost instantly no pulse ... flatlined. After he left my room with that explanation a cardiac NP showed me the EKG graph paper where I was flatlined across the sheet. I had what they called a "heart block". I was now having problems with the electricity side of the heart instead of just the plumbing side of the heart.

Long story short ... within the hour I had this installed in my upper left chest, near the armpit. The cardiologist that performed the procedure is the husband of my new family practitioner at the VA. I was home that afternoon with a big band aid over the incision and instructions that I could not raise my left hand above my shoulder for a month nor was I allowed to lift more than 5 pounds with my left hand for a month.

It would not interfere with my TAVR that was now moved to the following Wednesday, June 25th. This has a setting of 60-130 bpm. I was told I could do normal activity as long as my heart rate stayed below 130bpm. I have always checked my heart rate on my Apple Watch for years, so I can monitor my heart rate at all times.

It rarely got that high in my good bike riding days.

I am left handed and couldn't lift more than 5 pounds with that hand for a month. Luckily I do a lot of things with my right hand so it was not a problem.

As Dr Voelkel stepped into my room on June 25 for a short pre-surgery brief I told him "I plan to cooperate today and not give you any problems" as I laughed. He smiled and and said he was happy to hear that. It should be a short procedure and they didn't see any issues that could prevent that.

As they slide that valve into place, they expand the new valve and from that time forward the old valve and the calcium build up will hold the new valve in place. Pretty wild when you think about it. 

29mm equals 1.1417 inches !!!! Hard to believe something that wide is inside my heart. It is a Bovine Tissue Valve made from calves, not a pig.

I am glad to report this last procedure went as planned. No surprises. I did make it to my recovery room and woke up soon after arrival. I had glanced at the clock as they pulled me into the operation room, 1:34pm. I glanced at the clock after coming conscious in the recovery room 2:37pm ... fast huh?

I was in a large room with other valve replacement patients. I was the youngest at 73 years old and in fact Dr Voelkel told me in that first meeting on June 9th, "I rarely do these valve replacements on someone as young as you". I asked him at the time was it diet related, lifestyle related. After all 40-50 years ago I was what they called "a party animal". LOL

I asked him then if it was my diet or bicycling activity would have prevented this and he said it was all genetic. So from my father's side of the family, that all had by-pass surgeries or died instantly of a heart attack, I had expanded the family history into new territory with a stent, a pacemaker and a new aortic valve.

I was constantly checked on by the nurse in recovery for the next 4 hours. Around 6pm she called to order me dinner since I had not eaten anything in the past 24 hours. By 6:30pm I was rolled into my overnight room knowing I would be going home in the morning.

Around 8pm that night, after my dinner I asked the nurse to unhook me from all those machines I was connected to. I had to use the bathroom and I wanted to go for a walk. I did both without assistance, as she walked next to me in the hallway. She told me that I was doing very well on that walk. It was only around 7 hours ago the valve was replaced. 

In my mind I was getting out of there as soon as possible the next morning. Just like I did with the hip replacement in 2019. 

Like anyone else in an overnight stay at the hospital, I didn't sleep well. About the time I was a sleep a nurse would come into check my vitals or draw more blood for testing. By 4am I was wide awake and knowing I normally get up every day at 5am thanks to the hounds and dogs, I decided to "get up".

I pushed the button for the nurse ... but there came a point in time I could not hold it anymore. I had four simple things to unhook me from those machines and it was like "plug and play" on a computer or the back of your tv. Before that nurse arrived I had unplugged myself and was in the bathroom, when she walked into the room.

It wasn't long after that I was told what I did was against policy and in a polite manner, was told not to do that again ... even if I was computer literate like I explained to her.

We did another walk around the large circular hallway. I called in for my breakfast ... 

Back at the VA in May when I talked to the family practitioner about my cough and before the echocardiogram on the 20th, I had put down I was allergic to milk and some dairy. Well that went into the system as allergic to lactose and thus restricted what I could and could not order for dinner and breakfast at the hospital. At least I was getting high fat and high protein in that meal just like I wanted.

I will get to that later.

Everything tasted great. Off to the right is a small bowl of fruit and that is a small glass of apple juice. As I ate breakfast around 6:30am I was getting excited about leaving and wondering how soon I could call my friend to pick me up. I felt great, no pain anywhere and felt like a new person really.  I could not stop glancing at the clock until my departure.

After all the discharge instructions, new prescribed meds (a different blog post), and nurses telling me "it was great to meet you but we really hope we never see you again" LOL ... I was on my way to the first floor and out to the curb to get into my friends car.

I was home by 10:40am. 

I quietly snuck in through the garage side door. My dog sitter and friend told me earlier she would leave before I got there. That dog sitting is another long bizarre story that I might have spoke about earlier with Ava's training ... another blog post I guess in the future.

As I quietly opened the door from the garage all four of the hounds and dogs were excited to see Ava since she was already in the garage after she spent the night in there. They were probably more excited to see her than me. As she walked through the kitchen heading to the patio door to go outside .. their tails were wagging, Cletus was baying with happiness and they followed her outside.

I followed them, stood on the patio deck step and observed the bright sunny day thankful for what I have, the dogs I have to share my house with and all the friends that stepped forward to help me during these 16 days in June. The day definitely seemed different than normal sunny days and I was very thankful for where I was ... able to stand there and enjoy what I was seeing. 

Later my friend Ralph came down to pour the 40 pound bags of dog food into the containers for me. 

I had moved those containers up on the kitchen table just in case I was not allowed to bend over during my recovery, like I was with my hip replacement surgery in 2019. Luckily I was allowed to bend over. ONE WEEK to recover from the valve replacement. I was able to pour their kibble into their bowls without someone coming over to do that twice per day. 

I could do normal activities as long as I didn't exert myself. Walking was encouraged, being active was encouraged. I found that afternoon that I had arrived home, a little after 24 hours from valve replacement surgery, that I was not out of breath like I was just weeks earlier as I did a .62 of a mile walk in front of the house. 

The next morning I could walk up the hill to my friend's house .2 mile away without being out of breath and needing to take a break by the time I got to the top of that hill, just a couple of houses away from theirs.

Honestly I could not believe just how good I felt. It was going to be harder for me to keep from doing too much instead of trying to be active. I had not felt that good in years!!!

After my one week follow up appointment, I was given the okay to do everything I normally do, and could even exert myself. I found I had so much energy that I started checking off things on my house "to do" list, where months earlier I was not motivated enough to even look at that list. Things were getting done around the house. I had a lot of energy, something I had not felt in years. 

Of course my left arm had limits until July 19th.

I just had my one month follow up with Dr Voelkel this past week. He went over the latest echocardiogram I had July 21st. Everything looks great. The valve is seated properly, it is working as it was designed to with no leaks, no regurgitation, no more hearing the heart murmur in their stethoscopes. Blood pressure is good ... My LVEP had returned to a normal percentage of 50%. That can increase with diet and exercise too. 

I have an aortic valve that is open 3.1 cm-2. A big difference from 0.6 cm-2. I have an LAD artery that is flowing 100% instead of just 5% and a pacemaker that keeps my heart pumping during those times it might fall below 60 bpm now.

Thanks to the staff and cardiologist at this facility at St Vincent's hospital in Evansville Indiana, I was spared having a catastrophe happen to me and leaving the hounds and dogs in a precarious situation. That building connects to the main hospital that is behind it. 

With God's help, I consider this man with saving my life. I've always been more spiritual than religious but with religious friends forming prayer groups from NC to Calif on my two scheduled days of surgery, people that I have never met in person, along with everything happening with perfect timing and a faster than normal schedule to fix my heart to finding a dog sitter for the hounds and dogs ...

It was truly an act of God that I am here telling you this story.

I also owe a big thank you to Dr Jennifer Herrell at the VA Center in Evansville. I passed that thank you to her through her nurse that I saw on July 7th at a follow up appointment. She is a very busy cardiologist with 26+ years experience, so she was unable to see me that day. I am to see her in December and from that point forward she will be my point of contact as my cardiologist since the VA referred me to Dr Voelkel for the TAVR procedure.

She was able to listen to my rambling how I was a fit older man and wasn't like all the other men in their 70s sitting out in the lobby. She heard me say I had no symptoms of needing the valve replaced. She did listen to what I had to say but at the same time was able to look at what the numbers were telling her and made a quick decision and arrangements to save me from being an idiot with too much pride. 

From here on out it is only follow up appointments or an annual echocardiogram. Lab bloodwork is a walk-in appointment at the VA.

Why the VA?

On two different occasions, in 2019 and in 2025, after going to a civilian medical facilities first, I found in both years that the VA was the best health service for me. Professional, detailed in their work and would listen and clearly explain what was going on. I can add Dr Voelkel to that list too.

Out in Sierra Vista they would have referred me to a cardiologist to replace the valve in Tucson, 62 miles away. Where I use to live in Indiana they would have referred me to a cardiologist either in Bloomington 25 miles away or Terre Haute 40-50 miles away to do those procedures.

Instead of that, I had everything done 9 miles away or a 19 minute drive from the house through city traffic.

I always wondered why I moved to Evansville ... in a way I guess I had my answer last month. 

Another beautiful day here in "the tropics" of Southern Indiana.

Yet it is not lost on me as time moves on ... they are all beautiful now and in a way different than any days before June 2025.