Susan's Profile

I was diagnosed with aortic stenosis a few years ago. It was being monitored first with bi-annnual which showed some progress of the disease. However, last April I found I was particularly short of breath. Echo in May 2019 showed disease had progressed to moderate. In December it had moved to severe. My cardiologist and Sanger Heart kicked into action quickly and discovered that my left anterior descending artery was 80% blocked. Treatment plan was to get me on blood thinners for a month to make sure I could tolerate them then place a stent in the artery followed by TAVR procedure a month later. The TAVR was done last week and I am writing this to say how easy it was. When you tell your friends and relatives about heart valve replacement they have the impression that it is a big deal. I am here to tell you it is not. As promised, I spent one night in the hospital. In three days I was out taking walks in the sunshine. It was nice to get all the concern and follow up from everyone around me but their concern was really overblown. The doctors did tell me that my valve replacement procedure went as smoothly as any they had ever done. You really need to list Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute at Atrium Health in Charlotte, NC, as one of your top docs. Dr. Skipper who did my procedure is the head surgeon there but I think everyone is fabulous!!!