About Me (In My Own Words)
Well, where do I start? I've been dealing with this condition for 25 years. I was born with a murmur and my parents were assured I would out-grow it but I never did. At the age of 9 my father passed away. It was at that age that I learned that I never did out-grow the condition. During a routine doctor check-up the murmur was noticed again and I was referred to a specialist. During this visit I learned, as my mother answered the doctors questions, my father died at the age of 45 and one uncle at the age of 32 and another at the age of 37 due to this condition. I was diagnosed with Valvular Aortic Stenosis. At the age of 11 I had my first Heart Cath. Now lets fast forward to July 2009. I noticed I was becoming less able to walk up stairs or any kind of incline. I began to to get blurry vision ans dizziness along with a metalic taste in my mouth just before my chest pains which were becoming more frequent and more painful. I was used to the chest pains because I have lived with them all my life and I never thought anything about it. I thought everyone had chest pains.
One day, while heading to check on a friend who had lost her father the day before, I lost my vision completely and had a really bad chest pain,WHILE I WAS DRIVING!!!! I ran off the road and missed 3 large pine trees and a culvert. I thought I was dying.
That November I was hospitalized and had a battery of test done.
They did a double heart cath that didnt go well. I ended up with 5 blood clots and 4 anurisms. I spent a week in the hospital with a 12 pound sand bag on my femeral artery. Everything from the right side of my chest to the top of my right knee cap was black and purple from all the blood released inside me. The atrophy in my back was the worst! It was then that I learned That my condition had worsened. I was told that my condition was called Valvular Aortic Stenosis with a Unicusp Aortic Valve and that my one valve \"flap\" did not close completely and was calsified like that of a 50 year old man.
Now I take 15 pills a day until I get the surgery. I was enrolled into a case study due to the rarity of my condition. Less than 2% of the population has a \"BI\"cuspid valve so you can imagine what percentile I'm in. haha. Anyways... I went to my last appointment Dec. 10th and was told that my surgery date has been pushed back from Dec. 23 to the last week in January or the first week of Feburary. The doctors studying my condition are not sure if they will need to remove the \"AORTIC ROOT\" (I didn't know there was such an animal)or not. There is a cat scan appoinment for the second week of January and after that I will Have a date for sure. So thats where Im at as of Dec. 13,2010
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
-
I am from:
Minden, Louisiana