About Me (In My Own Words)
My leaky valve finally caught up with me, and I am scheduled for mitral valve surgery on December 15, 2009.
Until recently I had pretty much taken it for granted that, like the majority of prolapsed mitral valves, mine would probably never give me any trouble. A blessing in disguise occurred when I paid a late night visit to my local ER for chest pain (which was NOT heart-related, as it turned out).
In the course of checking me over, they found some "interesting" arrhythmias and admitted me to the hospital for more tests. The next day I had an echocardiogram that showed that the posterior leaflet of my mitral valve was flailing and regurgitating all over the place and spilling the blood flow onto my left atrium instead of pumping the way it's supposed to.
I also had a cardiac catheterization done that day in the hospital, and received some good news following that procedure. My heart vessels and arteries were completely clear and showed no blockage whatsoever, and the heart muscle itself is strong.
But the bad news was that the mitral valve would definitely need surgery, and soon. Apparently, my prolapsed valve has deteriorated over the past 30 years from the time it was first diagnosed by echocardiogram. Now at age 59, my heart was pumping frantically to keep up with the overload from the mitral regurgitation. That would explain the arrhythmias and rapid heartbeat.
My cardiac surgeon, Dr. A. Michael Borkon, of St. Luke's Hospital and Midamerica Heart Institute in Kansas City, tells me that I have an 80% chance of the surgery being a repair, rather than a replacement. This is encouraging news. I have the utmost faith in my surgeon, having heard from virtually everybody I've asked and the research I've done, that he is the best doc for the job in this geographical area. I consider myself very lucky to be in such excellent hands for my mitral valve procedure.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
-
I am from:
Overland Park, Kansas