Looking for other adult's experiences with asd

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Comment by DD Brown on April 24, 2012 at 10:23am

Hi- I'm not able to respond to the items of interest you listed because I had my heart surgery in 1960- the old fashioned way- split ribs and two weeks in an oxygen tent with a 24-hour nurse.  After the scar healed, my parents felt I was a normal kid and WOULD SO BEHAVE.  I went to school, participated in PE, went skiing, swimming, had two normal births and spent 28 years in the Air Force (active & reserve) meeting all military physical requirements.  After my second baby was born, the doctor said, "We'd know it if anything was wrong with your heart".  Labor is called labor for a reason--it's quite a work out. Ask anyone who has done it.  Best of luck, Enjoy the gym

Comment by helen888 on March 19, 2012 at 9:56am

I am 35 years old and I had just my open heart surgery 2 weeks ago, majority of what you discussed is a description of myself, I am categorized as a "Non-P.E. person", I always fall behind and it hurts when people tell me I'm lazy, that I am not pushing hard enough and losing any physical activities and games, I grew accustomed of having that reputation, nobody really believed that I am really pushing and even pretend that I don't have any chest pains as I'm just concocting excuses and being dramatic. I am in recovery and I read one of the bloggers that he is back in the gym in 3 weeks, though that was a catheter procedure mine will take  month or two, I'm so happy to hear that, and I am happy that I am not alone as you are not alone. I am optimistic that everything will change, I will check back here again a couple of months and let you know how everything changed :)

Comment by natalia on March 30, 2011 at 10:41am

Thanks for sharing all your stories.  My headaches have stopped thank goodness.  I am recoverying well and am anxious to get back to dancing but my family wants me to take it easy.  I think I will slowly get back to dance class next week.  That would make three weeks of resting.  natalia

Comment by Rebecca Boles on March 30, 2011 at 3:36am

I had two months of very very bad headaces after my closure without a history of standard migranes in the past, That did begin to ease after the two months and now just pop up once in awhile. You are not alone!!! I hope today is a headache free one.

Comment by natalia on March 21, 2011 at 4:23pm

I just had asd closure on weds. march 16th, 2011.  I have had many many headaches in the last six days and yesterday I saw the visual aura.  I had migraines before but few and far between.  I hope these headaches go away.  Has anyone else had headaches right after surgery?  I read katie's  but what about everyone else..

Comment by Katie G on November 1, 2010 at 7:57pm

I had my ASD closed in December of 2004. It was quite a surprise to me that I even had it. I am so thankful to the doctor that picked up a heart murmur during a sports physical (as I was playing volleyball at the time), and referred me to a cardiologist. After the surgery I was quite disoriented/groggy at times, had to sleep a lot, and also began having classic migraines more. I actually had the visual aura that precedes the migraine (gold swiggly lines) a lot. At the time I didn't quite know what to think of this, but after it started happening a lot I realized I was experiencing classic migraines. I've always had migraines but maybe the surgery just triggered that type to begin happening. I think it was probably two or three months until I started working out at a gym because I wanted to manage my headaches effectively (which I experienced often) and make sure the device grew into the heart wall effectively. Now I still have migraines but I haven't had a classic migraine in over a year which has been really nice. I basically get the same kind of migraines now that I used to get before the surgery and less frequently now. I'm almost out of college now and am really thankful for the amplatzer device, I always forget that I have it (since by now it's been at least 6 yrs since I've had it)! Just wanted to share my experience.

Moderator Comment by John on September 17, 2010 at 5:48am

Joy,
Thanks for your post and again I am sorry to hear your symptoms have been worsening.
As I think you know, I did not have any symptoms. My sports performance was high before surgery in May 2010.
Unfortunately I did not have my ASD closed via catheter. I had it closed via robotic open heart surgery. I was back in the gym three weeks after heart surgery. I feel like my physical performance is back to the way it was before surgery (about three months after surgery). I am as fit as before. I am much more cognizant of my heart now than before. I use my heart rate monitor every time I train now. I never had any migraines and have had no issues post surgery. I had one minor complication post surgery (not heart related).
Thanks again for your blog.