About Me (In My Own Words)
My name is Trevor Nelson and I am a 22 year old college student currently at Concordia University Wisconsin. I was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, which is about 90 miles west of Chicago. I am the youngest son of my parents, Marshall and Sherry. I have 3 older brothers: Troy(31) who is married to Jessica, Tyler(29) who will be getting married in September to Ellen, and Trent(26).
I am an avid sports fan, especially college basketball and Major League Baseball. I also enjoy skiing and hiking, and thankfully I have a brother (Trent) that lives in Denver, CO so I get to go pretty often. My other hobbies include golf, following Chicago sports teams, traveling with my family, and attending concerts.
At the age of 12 going into a routine sports physical, my primary care doctor discovered a heart murmur that he had never heard before, so he wanted to obtain further testing. After an echocardiogram, it was discovered that I had a mild leak in my aortic valve and that I was born with this condition. I had no restrictions and no symptoms, so this news was very frightening to me. My cardiologist said that this was no immediate concern, but I may need surgery to correct the condition later on in life. I continued to participate in sports, primarily basketball and baseball without symptoms for the next 8 years.
I started noticing a slight difference in my stamina while exercising in my Sophomore year of college at the age of 20. I was running, lifting weights, and playing pick-up style basketball 3 or 4 days a week. After having yearly echocardiograms since I was 12, my cardiologist decided it was a good idea for me to meet with a surgeon in July of 2009 just to get familiar with the logistics on the operation and possibly set a schedule. The leak in my aortic valve had worsened to a moderate/severe level. My cardiologist also decided that I had a bicuspid valve (two functional leaflets) until proven otherwise in surgery. I was referred to the University of Wisconsin at Madison Hospital, where I have set a preliminary schedule for my aortic valve to be replaced in early June of 2010. I feel very comfortable under the care of my surgeon, Dr. Nilto De Oliveira, and the rest of his cardiothoracic team at UW-Madison. Over the last year I have had an increase of symptoms, most notably shortness of breath. My heart has increased in size, but my physicians assure me that the size will go back to normal after the valve replacement because the strength of my heart is still great.
Through my faith in my Lord and Savior, I have embraced my condition as an opportunity to make my self a stronger person, not only physically but mentally as well. With doing the research on my condition, I gained a passion for the field of medicine and helping others. I am currently a Nursing student in college and hope to go into the field of cardiology someday. I hope to learn as much as I can through this website and Adam's book in preparation for my surgery and look forward to getting my endurance back and returning to the ski hill!
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Rockford, Illinois
