Lori's Profile

I am 52 years old and have been a special education teacher for 31 years. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur about 3 years ago. At that time I was referred to a cardiologist and had my first echo done. At that point I was considered "moderate" with a gradient of 43. My subsequent echos showed the gradient increasing into the 50's until the fall of 2010 when it reached 73. At that time I was referred to a cardiac surgeon and so my story begins. Amazingly, to myself and the doctors, I have not experienced any symptoms. To this day I am asymptomatic and continue to workout (with permission from my doctors) 4 times per week. I feel fortunate to have had the past 6 weeks to prepare for aortic valve replacement. In addition, I am also having an aortic aneurysm repair. I am scheduled for surgery on January 11th at Loyola Hospital in Maywood, Illinois.