About Me (In My Own Words)
I have had mitral regurgitation for nearly 10 years but it was mild in the beginning and slowly progressed to it being diagnosed as severe as of March this year. My Afib was diagnosed in 2017 during a routine check up with my cardiologist at that time, following which I was put on a holter monitor for 2 weeks which indicated that I was in persistent Afib (but I was totally asymptomatic and am still completely asymptomatic to this day). Due to the persistent nature of my Afib and that my left atrium was severely dilated, I was told that cardioversion was not an option. My cardiologist recommended I should take a blood thinner and so I have been taking Eliquis since then. In February this year I was traveling abroad and after a week had an incident of shortness of breath that lasted about 10 minutes and then slowly subsided. I did not realize the seriousness of what happened and so I continued on my merry holiday with my wife for the next 20 days. After I returned home I went and saw my cardiologist at Hoag and she did an Echocardiogram followed by TransEsophageal one too, and so here I am now somewhat nervously waiting to go through my open heart surgery which certainly will be the most challenging event in my life. I will undergo 4 procedures - mitral valve replacement, tricuspid valve repair, Afib maze procedure, and a bypass graft for a surprising discovery at the pre-surgery angiogram which showed I had an "anomalous origin of the right coronary artery". I am 73 years old so if all goes well at surgery I intend to do all I can to help the doctors and nurses to get me back in shape as well as it can be. Knowing what to expect can help me prep my mind and hence the out reach to all who also have dealt with these kinds of challenges.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
IRVINE, CA
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My surgery date is:
May 17, 2023
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Regurgitation
Tricuspid Regurgitation
Atrial Fibrillation
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My surgery was:
Mitral Valve Replacement
Tricuspid Valve Repair
Maze Procedure
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