About Me (In My Own Words)
Hi
My name is Holly and I'm from Ontario, Canada. I'm 61 next month and have been ill for as long as I can remember. In 1982 I was diagnosed with SLE at age 24 after a stroke and multiple organ involvement. 8 years prior to the diagnosis I had my daughter at age 16, which is when my health took a terrible turn for the worse. As a child I was in and out of hospitals with an array of bizarre symptoms such as, memory issues, partial seizures, visual disturbances, digestive issues, blood count issues, i.e. anemia, high white counts etc. exhaustion, heart murmur and a hole in my heart. I was a sickly young girl. After the stroke and my diagnosis with Lupus at age 24, I was put on prednisone as the main treatment. With that treatment came many harsh sid affects, which they too were treated with more pharmaceuticals. I'm still on prednisone to this day and can't seem to get below 8mg. As the disease progressed over the decades, I've had pulse induced chemotherapy for kidney disease, 3.5 years, then I was diagnosed with APS (which I believe I was born with) and put on warfarin and plaquinal. For another 4 years I was incapacitated with problems breathing/chest pains and exhaustion. Finally, I was diagnosed with severe mitral valve regurgitation disease as well as pulmonary hypertension and just recently in the last year, OCPD, and severe Atherosclerosis. My agatston calcium score is 800. I was fitted for a St Jude mechanical valve in 2006 and I was in disbelief at how, from the moment I woke up how amazing I felt. I could actually breath and everything around me looked bright and real and I felt like how a healthy person felt. I remember crying and asking each and every nurse and Doctor around me, if they felt this good every day of their lives. What I gift I told them. I remember not being able to stop crying and smiling/laughing at the same time. It was a miracle as far as I was concerned!🙏🏻🙏🏻
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Brockville , Canada
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My surgery date is:
February 2, 2006
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Regurgitation
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My surgery was:
Mitral Valve Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Thierry Mesana
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My hospital is:
Ottawa Heart Institue