About Me (In My Own Words)
I was diagnosed with Afib in '08, started on warfarin and told to "Lose weight!". My severe AVS was discovered in July of this year when I was hospitalized with something unrelated. I didn't take the news very well, it put me into a tail spin. It's taken me awhile to right up and fly but coming here and making myself relate to others is the best thing I could have done. Everything is still "hurry up and wait" in terms of when and what will be done, but things get clearer as the days pass.
It's down to TAVR with the bioprosthetic or open heart with the "mechanical" valve. According to my docs I am "young"... imagine that. At 58, I am YOUNG!! Ask me how happy I am. Go on. Ask me.
I am also a licensed practical nurse of twenty-five years working toward my RN. This makes the prospect of treatment even more serious for me. Not only do I recognize the implications of what will be done, but I am able to conversantly understand all that's being done moment to moment. This is the very human part of me, and I get frightened just as much as anyone else. Nurses come to learn their own mortality in trade for what they learn in the profession. This is how we learn to empathize with others. We may have to walk the path they are about to take sometime in our lives, or we may have already passed that way.
Thank all of you who have welcomed me here. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Mark Hall, LPN/SN
Mounds, OK
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Mounds, Oklahoma
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
Atrial Fibrillation
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My hospital is:
Oklahoma Heart Institute, Hillcrest Medical Center
