Brent's Profile

My heart journey began in 2008 when I received a call from my cousin who explained that our family had a history with a genetic heart defect. I went to get it checked out and found that I did indeed have the heart defect, a bicuspid aortic heart valve. Thankfully I had no symptoms and my overall health was good. The cardiologist recommended I just get checked annually. Fast forward to 2018. After losing over 170 lbs after gastric bypass surgery and feeling better than I had in years, I returned to mu general doctor for a routine follow up exam. At that visit, my doctor became very concerned about what she heard in my chest, that my murmur seemed louder and recommended I get to the cardiologist sooner rather than later. My cardiologist agreed that something was definitely wrong and ordered a bunch of tests (ECG, Heart Cath, CT, etc) . These tests revealed that my aortic valve had begun to calcify and I had severe aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aorta). Only 1 year earlier my level had been at mild. The cardiologist referred me to a heart valve specialist and that is when I received the news that without heart valve replacement surgery, my life expectancy would be shorter than normal. With 2 little girls at home, the news was difficult to hear and plans were made to move ahead quickly to replace my aortic valve with a bovine artificial valve. So, here I am eager to hear your stories of encouragement and learn what to expect before, during and after the surgery. Being a life long sufferer of anxiety is making the wait very tough.