About Me (In My Own Words)
My mitral is only opening 25% of what it should be opening and my tricuspid valve is slightly leaking. Surgeon says it is too calcified to repair and has to be replaced. He thinks that replacing the mitral valve will possibly fix the leaking on tricuspid valve. If not he can repair it during my surgery. I am waiting for insurance approval on some CT's to check and see if he can perform the minimal invasive surgery or if it will be a sternotomy.
Have known since 2015 about mitral stenosis, but did not find out how bad it was until I changed cardiologists in June 2019. New cardiologist immediately sent my records to Heart Hospital in Plano (TX) after performing an echo and right and left heart cath.
Visited Plano on August 27, 2019. They put me through a set of tests and I met with a team of doctors. They advised mitral valve had to be replaced and could not be repaired. I am now waiting for CT's and carotid artery ultrasound to be done near where I live and will then go back and meet with surgeon to see which procedure he will be able to perform. Will be very glad to get to that point.
I completed the CTs and sonogram on Sept. 23 at my local hospital. The radiologist found a small mass on my left lung. I do have some fibrosis in that same lung due to damage from an autoimmune disease I have which is Scleroderma. There is no cure for it, doctors just have to treat the symptoms of the disease. It is systemic and can affect any part of my body. I was diagnosed with this in 2005. All of my doctors have told me that my heart valve problem was because I had rheumatic fever at some point in my life and it was not caused by the Scleroderma.
As of now my doctor is trying to get referral/approval for me to get a needle lung biopsy done to find out if the small mass is cancer or something else. One good thing is that it is small at this time. Hopefully the insurance approval will come quickly and we can get the biopsy done and get the results soon.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Clyde, TX
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Stenosis
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Robert Smith
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