Husband is having pericardiectomy.....I'M SCARED TO DEATH

please help us/me.....my husband is only 51 and developed a cough and wheezing and when they xrayed his chest they could hardly see the heart for all the calcium. after seeing a cardiologist 10 days ago they say he has constrictive pericarditis and needs a pericardiectomy. his cath showed a healthy strong heart (at least as far as they can tell) with no blockages at all. he is physcially fit and not at all overweight but..........I AM SCARED TO DEATH. has anyone had this surgery? we saw dr. sina moainie in indianapolis and he has done 12-15 of these surgeries. anyone?

thank you karen

This forum is rather slow at times. I think it all depends how many people come on it. I moderate depression and fibromyalgia and they seem to have a lot more people on the sites. I am sorry nobody is responding. I hope that somebody does.

Hugs...

hello, my husband is 44 and has constrictive pericarditis as well, im very worried as he has always been in tip top shape, seems to be moving fast and at times scares me as no doc has told us what to look for or expect... frustrating... watch and wait... is there answers... i have been assured the best will do the surgery, sounds like a risky one????? i see varibles play into the end result, like age, health, ect.. do all pts who have surgery have heart failure? from this condition? my husband does... fliud build up on legs, and seems to breath heavy most of the time when he does things, he still works and works in manual labor. he does not think he has any symptoms at all, not sure if he just says this.... he also had not been sick recently.... love to meet others and chat more on this topic... thanks :)

Hi Lorrie,

 

I am so sorry I was not here to help you out with your questions as I had major surgery on 8/16 and am just getting back into the swing of being online.  I do hope your husband had his pericardectomy and that he is doing well.  I hope that you are hanging in there and as a wife I understand what it is like to have your husband dx with a serious problem. 

My husband has Crohn's Disease, had Prostate Cancer and coming up on the 5 year post op mark and just last September was dx with cardiomyopathy.  Since he was 29 I have worried about him but the cardiomyopathy through me for a loop as I never thought he would develop a heart problem

Blessings to you and be well.

Kitt

DS,

No my husband did not have any procedures when he was dx with cardomyopathy. The Dr. started him on medication but hubby reacted to the med so he is back to just dealing with his Crohns.   I do not have a heart problem just hypertension well controlled. 

My surgery was for newly dx colon cancer but I have started chemo and expect to do well.

I am glad to see so many members have responded to this thread.

Hello,

Just wanted to share that my dad who is 79 years old just had a successful pericardectomy at the University of Chicago. It was done robotically and they were able to get all calcification (posterior, anterior and lateral) using this approach. Dr. Balkhy is one of the few (or only) surgeon that has done them robotically, esp. with a lot of calcification. Other major centers turned my father down due to high mortality risk of conventional approach. Good luck to everyone here struggling with surgical decisions.

Helen (Atlanta)