Kevin's Profile

I have been living with an Aortic Anuerysm since 2006 and I was on a monitor status since that time where I would go to Stanford every 9 months to have an echo done. I don't know if my condition is hereditary or if it came from my athletic days as a football player and bodybuilder. Some say it could be linked to steroids but I never took steroids. There has been high profile athletes that have had valve disorders and they did have them repaired to go on and live a healthy lifestyle. I found out that I had this condition buy running on a treadmill when I felt chest pain that felt like I was having a heart attack. I immediately admitted myself to emergency. After they ran a series of test they could not figure out what was wrong so they referred me to a cardiologist and since 2006 I have been living with an Aortic Anuerysm valve condition. My last exam was a MRI which revealed some growth of the valve which is now 5.6 centimeters so my cardiologist told me he was afraid for me and did not want to stay on this track that we were on. So I thought long and hard about it and I struggled with having the operation and I'm still struggling with it but I know at some point I will have to get it done and there is no way around it. So with only a few weeks left I will be going in to have the surgery done. So that's my story.