About Me (In My Own Words)
I am 52 years old, and on March 23, 2015, I was told I needed to have my aortic valve replaced. For 39 years, I thought I had mitral valve prolapse, but that is not the case. I went for echocardiograms every 3 to 5 years, and in 2009, the echo technician questioned if it was actually the MV, but no appointment with a cardiologist was recommended. Life went on, and I forgot about it until last year when my blood pressure went up, and stayed up, so I had to be put on bp meds. I then decided to find a cardiologist on my own in case I needed one for my MV, and had an appointment for early 2014, but my husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer, so it wasn't a good time for me to worry about myself, especially when I thought there was nothing to worry about. I just wanted to have a cardiologist if I needed one. Also, I live in a remote area where we have to travel anywhere from 100 to 200 miles for medical specialists (I'm going 300 miles to my surgeon), and dealing with a spouse's cancer in a town that was 100 miles from home, plus another 100 miles from his doctor wasn't convenient at the time. Anyway, this year, I decided to go, and imagine my surprise when I was told I would have to have open heart surgery sometime this year. I don't have an aneurism, so that is good, but they want to watch the aorta for 6 months to see how it progresses, since they have nothing to go on as it hasn't been monitored in the past. If I start to have symptoms, then I have orders to go in for a re-evaluation asap. If it progresses quickly, I'll be glad I waited, so I won't have to have another surgery right after the valve replacement. I feel very fortunate to have found a facility I feel good about and a doctor who has actually had his valve replaced at that facility. I am learning a lot on this website, and am encouraged when reading the other posts after the surgeries. My big thing is that while others sympathize, they get tired of hearing me talk about it, and I am thinking about it all the time. I work full time, and my son is getting married in June, and I have a lovely grandson that is 6 months old, so I have a busy life, and you'd think I could put thinking about this out of my mind for six months. I'm glad to have this site to refer to, because it really helps those times when I am "thinking". Thank you to everyone who is sharing their stories.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
-
I am from:
McGregor
-
I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
-
My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
