C's Profile

1/16/2024 I was pretty active until a few years ago when I started having health problems which may or may not have been caused by heart problems: extreme fatigue, syncope, irregular heartbeat and palpitations, cough, shortness of breath. I had been told I have a heart murmur back in my 20s, but no doctor took it seriously, even after my mother died of aortic dissection. In 2023, at age 55, I found a new doctor. She was concerned after hearing my heart murmur, and made an urgent referral to a cardiologist. At my first echo, they discovered I had moderate aortic valve regurgitation (upped to moderate / severe during the TEE), but also — surprise! — a 5.2 cm aortic aneurysm. I was put on metoprolol to protect from dissection and referred to a cardiac surgeon. 10 weeks later, I had aortic valve repair and aortic hemiarch replacement. I am very grateful to my primary care doctor, cardiologist, surgeon, and everyone at my hospital, and cardiac rehab center. My echos (TTE and TEE) were inconclusive about my valve morphology — it was not until surgery that it was confirmed that my aortic valve was bicuspid. I feel that explains a lot — both the symptoms and why the aneurysm occurred, since I did not have any of the traditional risk factors. I am hopeful I will feel better than I have ever in my life, once I am fully recovered and feel confident to push physical boundaries again. Some of the old symptoms have already resolved or seem much better than before. I did not know anything about valve disease prior to diagnosis. I was completely ignorant and unprepared for the process — from dealing with specialists, the testing regime common to all of us, dealing with insurance, the surgery itself, and the short and long term recovery process, including the psychological issues. I am still processing everything that happened, even though I am now mostly recovered.