About Me (In My Own Words)
I am a 51 year old two-time valve surgery survivor! Heart disease is prevalent in my father's side of my family. His mother and father and all of his 6 brothers and sisters died in heart-related deaths. I have 12 first cousins, six of us have undergone OHS and one dear cousin has a transplanted heart. In 2003 after watching an "Oprah" show about women and heart disease, I urged my cardiologist to run a stress-echo with thalium contrast prior to another surgery that I needed at the time. He discovered that I had severe mitral valve regurgitation and that I needed immediate surgery to repair the valve. I was pretty much asymptomatic at the time, maybe a little short-breathed and dizzy on occasion, but just passed it off as "aging." Needless to say, I was shocked, worried, and scared. I am a Christian, so I found comfort in knowing that God was in control and that He would see me through this frightening time in my life. I began researching and talking with family and friends and found Dr. Al Pacifico at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama to provide the second opinion and do the surgery in the following weeks. He repaired the leaflets around my heart and within another month, I was able to have the other surgery as well. I returned to work as a second-grade teacher after Christmas that year. However, I never seemed to fully recover from the valve repair.I expected to return to an improved activity level and continue teaching and raising two teen-aged children. Unfortunately, my quality of life deteriorated, I seemed to be tired all of the time, and for three years things just progressively worsened. During these three years, my cardiologist continued monitoring my condition and finally admitted the repair must have failed. I returned to UAB, and Dr. Pacifico then replaced my mitral valve with a St. Jude mechanical valve. He told me that during the second surgery, he did see scar tissue that suggested that I probably had rheumatic fever as a child. My mother had passed away, so she couldn't confirm this. I would think that she would have told me about having rheumatic fever...but I do remember having strep throat quite often as a child. I also was part of the "phen-phen" craze of the 90's and took the popular diet drug. I couldn't get any doctor to confirm if my mitral valve problems were caused from the drug, rheumatic fever, or congenital. I still to this day would like to know the cause, especially for my children and future grandchildren.
The second surgery, the replacement was far more difficult than the first surgery. I really thought that it would be easier, since I had "been there, done that" already! I guess with that mentality, I asked fewer questions, got fewer answers, and had many more surprises. To begin with,when I was admitted the day prior to my surgery, I thought it was just routine bloodwork and tests. I expected to be in a room just as before, and have the tests done there. Wrong! I was placed in CICU immediately where they put me on a heart pump to rest my heart for 24 hours before the surgery would take place. It was an extremely frightening experience to be in CICU and to be fully awake and alert to all the extremely sick and recovering people around me. Add to that the shock and pain of having the pump inserted, it was a horrific experience. So, after having two surgeries, I pray that I will never have to go through it again. Currently, I self monitor my PT/INR levels at home and my coumadin dosage remains pretty much constant. I battle high blood pressure which concerns me a great deal. But otherwise, I am living a very routine, yet full life. I am so very thankful for my wonderful family and friends who have supported me through two surgeries. Without them and my Heavenly Father, I could not have made it. But, with each passing year it seems that people forget. With each tick of my St.Jude mechanical valve, I am constantly reminded that my life depends on that valve properly functioning. I try to avoid stress and confrontational situations and often don't speak up simply because the more excited I get, the louder the ticking becomes! I feel that there just isn't the balance in my life that was once there. This is just one area that I continue to pray about and seek His guidance. Thanks to this journal, hopefully I can vent...and even sort out these areas and my family and friends can better understand my continuing recovery. Thanks for listening!
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Wedowee, Alabama