Barry's Profile

I am a 68 yr. old married male who retired almost 3 years ago after a 35 year career as a research chemist. I have been in excellent health all my life and rarely saw a doctor. Once I got onto Medicare, I was encouraged to get annual wellness physicals, which I grudgingly did. During the second one of these last spring, my doctor detected a "click" while listening to my heart with his stethoscope. He set me up for an ECHO at which point I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse with moderate regurgitation. The cardiologist said because they only had one data point, they had no idea how long I have had this condition and whether or not it was stable or worsening. He scheduled a second ECHO 6 months out (this past December), which showed the regurgitation is now moderate to severe. My LVEF is at 55%. I have another ECHO scheduled for early March, and if it shows severe regurgitation, I will be a candidate for surgery. Over the last several months I have noticed my exercise tolerance has diminished (I am an avid rails-to-trails biker and attend the local gym regularly). More recently I have noticed I am developing shortness of breath, especially during brisk walks with my young dog. So I guess this shows the importance of seeing a doctor on a regular basis. Had I not, then my valve problem might not have been diagnosed until I had suffered some severe complication and potentially irreversible heart damage. Right now, I want to get this fixed but I understand this is not trivial surgery and therefore the reason to wait until it degrades to a certain point.