Michele's Profile

When I was 3 weeks old I almost died from undiagnosed Bronchial Pneumonia, while hospitalised for this it was discovered that I had a heart murmur. I was referred to the local paediatric doctor, and to the surgeons at Liverpool's Royal Children's Hospital until I was 16 years old. I alternated appointments between the 2 hospitals every 6 months. At age 7 I was given exploratory surgery to see the extent of my valve disorder. On 16th March 1972 I received surgery to stretch my aortic valve. I attended a 'special' school for handicapped children for 3 years, and returned to mainstream school 18 months after the surgery. In 1989 I gave birth to my daughter, and in 1993 to my son. When he was 10 weeks old I decided to return to Aerobics classes but found I was having visual disturbance on exercising. I was checked over at my next cardiac visit, and was invited for tests to see how my valve was doing. It was discovered to be failing and in January 1996 I had a mechanical valve inserted. Now it has been 20 years, and I'm aware that the kind of valve I received had a 'shelf life' of somewhere between 25 and 30 years, I believe. Sadly I haven't looked after myself in recent years and so I'm considered to be morbidly obese. I'm afraid that my valve replacement may be due anytime in the next 5 to 10 years and this concerns me. I wish I'd continued with the careful healthy lifestyle I used to lead, however I am waiting to start another Exercise On Prescription programme next month.