JoAnne's Profile

I found out in 1995 that I have a bicuspid aortic valve. At the time I was told it was not causing me any problems and that if I kept my weight down and exercised I probably wouldn't need it replaced until I was 80. Over the last 15 years every time My heart was listened to by a doctor I would hear the comment that I had a heart murmur and I would always tell them I knew what it was. Well, when I went this past Feb. to a walk in clinic for a sinus infection the attending physician was quite alarmed by the loudness of the murmur she was listening to. When she asked me how long it had been since the last time I saw a cardiologist and found out it was fifteen years, she urged me to accept a referral from her to see one. That's how I found out from the echocardiogram how bad it was. Tomorrow morning I'm meeting the doctor who will do the surgery.