Joan's Profile

I had Rheumatic Heart Disease as a result of having Mumps in my 20's. I have been asymptomatic for years until hiking in Hawaii had me severely compromised. This led to arrhythmias which could not be rectified with medications and cardioversion. I became very symptomatic that climbing 2 flights of stairs became exceedingly difficult. I could not swim nor run anymore. The walk from the Parking lot to Work gets me short of breath. I ended up in Pulmonary edema. Upon further tests it shows the valve cannot be fixed, it needs to be replaced.