James's Profile

I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve (also referred to as an incompetent valve). A normal aortic valve is tricuspid, so mine is inherently weaker, or insufficient than a normal valve. The condition usually goes undiagnosed because your heart is amazing and finds ways to compensate for such "defects" for a long time, but eventually the extra stress on the heart muscle, surrounding tissues and valves takes is toll, and problems develop. That's what has apparently happened in my case.