Rex's Profile

Diagnosed 33 years ago with mitral valve prolapse with moderate regurgitation. December 5 last year my heart went into afib then I got the flu which all combined put me in heart failure. After a 2 day stay in the hospital, I was told my mitral valve had progressed to severe regurgitation. After meeting with a cardiologist I was scheduled for a TEE and a heart cath which was done February 2. I met with the surgeon on February 23 and was told my valve was in too bad of shape to be repaired and would have to be done by open heart surgery but that my heart cath was good with no blockages. Was also told he wanted to do a maze procedure since I had afib and he said I have a "pouch" he needed to repair. I will be 65 in August and should be able to go on Medicare. The surgeon said I'm not in an emergency situation so he didn't have a problem with waiting until then. He gave me the option to choose the type of valve I wanted. That's a really hard choice to make as many people here know. I'm really wanting to get another opinion or two to make sure my valve isn't repairable but I'm not sure how to go about doing that and will my current insurance pay for that? Thanks in advance for any responses, help and encouragement anyone might have.