About Me (In My Own Words)
Hello. I found this site quite by accident when I was looking for information about heart valve surgery. I wish I had known about this amazing resource years ago! I had a minimally invasive mitral valve repair in 2014. I did well following that surgery and subsequent cardiac rehab. However, about two years ago, I started noticing that I was becoming extremely short of breath whenever I would climb stairs, walk up an incline, or otherwise really exert myself. My cardiologist ordered echocardiograms, stress echos, etc., and even sent me to a pulmonologist. After all the testing, my cardiologist believed that my mitral valve was the cause of my extreme shortness of breath. The valve was leaking moderately-to-severely, and there was evidence of stenosis as well. But, my heart was fine. I decided at the time that I did not want to have surgery again, and that as long as I was not damaging my heart, I would continue on as I had been.
But this past April, when my heart started racing and I was panting because I climbed up just three deep steps into a shuttle bus, I decided that it was time to address my issues. I saw my cardiologist again, and he referred me to the Heart Valve Clinic within Heart Hospital of Austin. They did much of the same testing that I had had previously, including a left/right heart cath and CTA. Based on the new testing, I was told that my mitral valve is indeed leaking pretty significantly, and so is my tricuspid valve. I met with a cardiologist from the Heart Valve Clinic as well as a surgeon. That surgeon turned out to be the one who had done my mitral valve repair back in 2014. He told me that now I would need to have the mitral valve replaced and the tricuspid valve repaired. During that visit, he was not yet sure which approach he would use for the surgery, given that he would need to work on two valves. I had my pre-surgery appointment with him August 23, and he plans to do a sternotomy to work on both of my faulty valves. I will be in the hospital for 5-7 days.
I got a second and third opinion, and both of those surgeons really helped me to understand that my valves are not able to open and close fast enough to keep up with the amount of blood needed when I am exerting myself. They both believe that fixing the valves should help with the extreme shortness of breath.
While I am not looking forward to the sternotomy, I am looking forward to getting my valves fixed so that I can do all the things that I enjoy doing, without having to stop every few minutes to catch my breath.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Georgetown, Texas
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My surgery date is:
September 26, 2023
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Regurgitation
Mitral Stenosis
Tricuspid Regurgitation
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My surgery was:
Mitral Valve Replacement
Tricuspid Valve Repair
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Faraz Kerendi
