About Me (In My Own Words)
I was born with a hole in the middle of all my four heart chambers. When I was 18 months old they did ooen heart surgery called primum asd repair. They took tissue from the sack around my heart and created valves.
Post surgery my mitral valve always leaked (murmur). When I turned 15-16 my aortic valve started to leak (murmur). Then some time in my early 20s (20-22) my tricuspid valve started to leak (murmur).
I managed life fine practiced and taught yoga, went on hikes regularly and kept a pretty clean diet.
In the winter of 2023 I got really sick and had 3 ER visits with breathing treatments. I felt like I was drowning. Then many tests were done, and echos confirmed my valves were barely working. I was recommend to UCLA so a team on doctors could replace/repair my three valves.
Dr. Lluri is my cardiologist, Dr. Ming Sing Si was my main surgeon.
My surgery started on 09/26/2024 and lasted 18 hours, my chest had been open so long they could not close my rib cage. For 5 days I was in a medically induced coma, then my chest cavity was closed and a pacemaker was inserted as I was still having heart block issues.
I was a resident of the Cardiac ICU for about 14/15 days. Then moved to the cardiac unit for about another week.
I stayed in LA for a month to be close in case anything went wrong.
Its been about 3-4 months since my surgery. I participate in cardiac rehab (we just started simulating hills!!!), I am in physical therapy (I have gained 30 degrees of movement back so far!), and occupational therapy (I can finally start reaching up and lifting things off the ground!)
I have a long recovery ahead of me and am grateful for the life opportunity.
I have had a rollercoaster of emotions and let go of a lot of stressful connections to help my heart health.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Reno
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My surgery date is:
September 26, 2024
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Regurgitation
Mitral Regurgitation
Tricuspid Regurgitation
Atrial Fibrillation
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
Mitral Valve Replacement
Tricuspid Valve Repair
Pacemaker Implant
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My surgeon is:
Dr. MingSing Si
