About Me (In My Own Words)
After experiencing a week of dizziness, increased heart palpitations accompanied by shortness of breath in May 2022, I saw the PA in my PCP's office. She was very thorough and ordered lab tests, chest x-ray and EKG. Everything was normal and my heart sounded strong. She decided to order a Holter monitor, "just in case." When she was unable to obtain one through their office, she referred me to a cardiologist, which I only later learned was noted as Urgent.
When I finally saw him in August, he was not overally concerned because I was mainly noticing palpitations by then. He ordered the Holter monitor and an echocardiogram for September 7th. I was able to see the results on MyChart that evening before my doctor reviewed the echo. I was surprised, to say the least, to see that I have severe tricuspid regurgitation (2018 echo showed mild regurgitation), mild to moderate aortic regurgitation and mild to moderate mitral valve regurgitation!
After reading about tricuspid regurgitation and the symptoms, I realized that the diagnosis explained a lot about symptoms I had been having (worsening fatigue and shortness of breath, and some swelling) but did not attribute to my heart because I have been told that I have a strong heart, and have low blood pressure, and no plaque.
The doctor wrote that he didn't think they needed to refer me for a procedure yet, but they would closely monitor the tricuspid valve. He suggested making an appointment with his nurse to discuss the results in detail. At my September 9th appointment the nurse agreed to refer me to a Structural Heart Valve cardiologist to discuss the Triliminate trial after I asked her how bad I would have to feel before I could have a procedure.
I wore the Holter monitor for a week and noticed and noted my increasing symptoms. The results came back on 9/22/22 and my cardiologist wrote that the observed rhythms were not life-threatening so no need to add any medicines. I'm so thankful to God that I had the echo and not just the Holter monitor because otherwise the tricuspid regurgitation would not have been found until later.
The nurse prescribed Lasix once a day for a week when I reported new swelling in my legs. I noticed that I had less shortness of breath and had a little more energy after I took the medicine in the afternoons. A few days after stopping the Lasix, I had significant shortness of breath and requested to continue on Lasix. Started back on Lasix 9/29.
I saw my PCP on 10/5 to discuss results of some routine lab work. He took a lot of time with me and agreed something needs to be done. He was very reassuring. I mentioned that I thought my cardiologist was surprised by the echo results, and he said, "Well, we ALL were!" He suggested I might want to take Lasix twice a day, so I started to do so on 10/6. I felt much better and was able to enjoy our family beach vacation the following week including some slow, short strolls on the beach, one of my favorite things to do!
I returned to Charlotte on 10/12 for my consultation with the Structural Heart Valve cardiologist. He agreed the valve needs to be repaired and that the valve regurgitation severity is a high 3 with 4 being the most severe. He showed me the echo and I noticed the valve looked like it was flapping in the breeze. He mentioned that it showed some prolapse, which I had to look up later. Then he told me since I am young (haven't been told that lately!) and could likely tolerate open heart surgery, I would not qualify for the Triluminate trial. It is reserved for those who cannot take medication for symptoms and/or are high risk for open-heart surgery. He was right when he said, "I'm sorry, I know that is not what you wanted to hear." So I drove back to the beach to continue vacation and talked on the phone with my sister and some friends about this new information.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
CHARLOTTE, NC
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Regurgitation
Mitral Regurgitation
Tricuspid Regurgitation
