About Me (In My Own Words)
I remember being told I had a heart murmur when I was 21. I didn’t think much of it as every Dr. after that told me they heard it. I was told my dad had a heart murmur as well. When I was in my late 40’s I had a full body scan because I was starting to not feel well. The cardiologist called and told me my results and that was when I found out I had a bicuspid aortic valve and a Aorta Aneurysm. I had been on several blood pressure meds since I had a hysterectomy. It was always difficult to keep my blood pressure under control. I was being told after my body scan that I better stay right on top of my blood pressure because if I didn’t my aneurysm could grow and burst and that most don’t survive. He also told me I didn’t want to have the surgery to fix it cause it wasn’t pleasant. In my late 50’s I started going to a new cardiologist and he wanted me to have an echocardiogram after he heard my heart murmur. Since I was a child I would occasionally get chest pains where I couldn’t talk and I learned to be real still and breathe slow and it would stop soon. I never really told anyone about it after the first time I had it, when I was in a restaurant with my Grandmother and she got so scared it almost gave her a heart attack. My new cardiologist explained the findings on my echocardiogram in a way I finally understood what I had. From that point on I have been getting echocardiograms yearly. In the last 3 yrs the chest pain has been getting more frequent. Especially this year. Last year my aortic stenosis was mild and my aneurysm had grown some. But then came 2020. I’m 64 now. In July I tested positive for COVID. I was lucky and had a milder case. However even though the COVID didn’t affect my lungs I started noticing I was getting out of breath more. I was very fatigued and
at night my teeth started to ache, all of them. Then I started to have lower jaw pain on both sides. And an ear ache that would come and go. I was wondering if all of it had to do with having had COVID. Oct is usually when I have my annual echo so I went off to have it done and in a few days my cardiologist office called and left a message to please call them back. I remember thinking, I bet this isn’t good. When I talked with them they told me my aortic stenosis had progressed to severe and my aneurysm had grown some as well and it was probably time to have surgery. I knew it may come to this someday but I was surprised it was here. So, this week is my surgery and I’m sure hoping I feel so much better afterwards.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Sparks, NV
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My surgery date is:
November 19, 2020
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
Aortic Aneurysm
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
Aortic Aneurysm Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Athan Roumanos
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My hospital is:
Renown Heart and Vascular Health
