Kaitlynn's Profile

Hello, My name is Kaitlynn Dawson, I am 19 years old, and I am recovering from a minimally invasive Aortic Valve Replacement that I had on October 27, 2017. I am a Sophomore at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. I play softball for Sam, and they found my bicuspid aortic valve in routine freshman athlete heart screenings. I had no idea that I had any kind of heart condition until my freshman year of college. When I found out about my heart condition, they told me that I would not need surgery to repair or replace my valve until I was in my mid to late 60's. Then, in December of 2016, in a check up, my regurgitation had progressed to the upper cusp of the mild into the moderate range. This past summer, I became "ill" presenting with all of the classical signs of heart failure. I found out in late July that I needed to have open heart surgery to have my aortic valve replaced. I scheduled my surgery, and while waiting for my surgery, I went into congestive heart failure and my symptoms progressed to the point that at I couldn't even walk around anymore without severe shortness of breath, angina, and other symptoms. By God's grace, I found Dr. Doolabh and his surgical team at UT Southwestern. I absolutely love him and his team. I have never met anyone more patient oriented than his surgical staff. I am currently four months post-op, and I am doing great. I am already back on the field pitching for SHSU. I struggle sometimes with pain, fatigue, and scar tissue pain or discomfort, particularly from the incision over my femoral artery. I also occasionally have severe shooting pain from where they had my chest tube placed. Other than that, I am recovering very well and I am beyond greatful to everyone that has helped me throughout this beautiful journey that ultimately saved my life.