About Me (In My Own Words)
I've been following my aortic stenosis diagnosis for several years. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with AFIB. I ended up having a cardiac ablation which pretty much took care of it.
In the mean time, my aortic stenosis had progressed from Moderate range to Moderate-Severe range. My cardiac doctors recommended no action was necessary yet. Eventually, I creeped into the Severe range, but since I wasn't getting dizzy spells or passing out, or having chest pain, they still wanted to wait to do anything. This is when I decided to do some research to get a second opinion. I discovered that Northwestern Hospital in Chicago (not far from my home) had excellent outcomes for their valve replacements. I made an appointment to see one of their cardiologists at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute and I was seen rather quickly. I was very impressed with the doctor's/staff that I met with that day. We scheduled an Echo and a heart scan. The results showed that I was slightly in the Severe range...still relatively asymptomatic except for shortness of breath, which was becoming more and more noticeable. I was scheduled to see the Valve Team where we discussed my options, looked at test results more closely, and decided that it was best to do this now rather than wait for worsening symptoms. We talked about the less invasive TAVR or traditional open heart tissue valve. The option of participating in a TAVR study was put on the table...this was an option being given, for the first time, to healthier, lower risk patients. Ultimately, I decided to go the traditional route being that I was young (67) and would be fully able to recover. Honestly, I probably could have gone with either option, but if I needed to have the TAVR replace in 10-15 years, I wasn't quite sure what that would look like. My thoughts were "better to have traditional now, and TAVR down the road" if I ever needed another new valve.
So now I had made my decision. Dr. Pham would be my surgeon, doing it the old-fashioned way. I also asked him if he could do something to close off the appendage that causes those clots to be formed in people with AFIB. Dr. Pham wanted to see if my AFIB was still active before my valve replacement surgery, so I wore a heart monitor for a couple of weeks. No signs of AFIB, but many irregular heart beats popping up every now and then. Not sure if the MAZE procedure will be necessary. We'll see.
So, today is Friday (night), Feb.1,2019. My surgery is scheduled for Tuesday morning. I'm feeling pretty good about the choices I've made, and I have much confidence in the cardiac staff at Northwestern Hospital.
I found this earlier this evening..."U.S. News & World Report's 2018-19 "Best Hospitals" report ranked Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Cardiology and Heart Surgery program among the top 10 (7th) programs in the nation and for the last 11 years, the No. 1 ranked program in Illinois and in the region."
Off to the races!
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
-
I am from:
Homewood
-
My surgery date is:
February 5, 2019
-
I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
-
My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
-
My surgeon is:
Dr. Duc Pham
-
