Bridget's Journal

So crazy that last week Thursday was 3 months since my OHS at the Cleveland Clinic. Just finished cardiac rehab last week, loved it! Resting heart rate was 93 before cardiac rehab, it is now 65! I am really excited and I worked very hard to get myself back in shape. I really feel great and can say I am back at 100%. So grateful for the talented hands of my surgeon, the support of my husband, children, family and friends. So glad to have met PJ Fugitt and Steven Dean while were we all at the Cleveland Clinic. Extremely grateful that my tumor was benign and I look forward to enjoying the upcoming holidays with my family and friends. God Bless those that are having their upcoming surgeries, you will be in my thoughts and prayers.

It is a great milestone to see how far I have come since August 4th, I am driving now, walking about an hour a day and feeling great. Starting cardiac rehab on Monday September 26th! Blessed with the outcome from the Cleveland Clinic and blessed to have found this site, thank you Adam for creating this site to allow us to support each other. Have a terrific Thursday!!

This is certainly a day that you can't imagine getting to when you are staring your surgery in the face, 2 weeks post op!!!! Being here and feeling as great as I do is really a pleasant surprise. I had my post op follow up with my primary care physician today and everything looks great with blood work, EKG, chest xray and incision healing. Went to my son's football scrimmage last night, enjoyed being outside and somewhat independent. I just know that every week will be better than the previous week and eventually I will feel more like my pre op self, minus the valve tumor, feeling fatigued and out of breath. I wish continued healing to everyone on this site as we continue our journey to be stronger and healthy!

The surgery is next week, Thursday August 4th. In May when the date was set it seemed like forever away, well "forever" is now 9 days away. It has been very emotional for me the last 7-10 days. I went to Mass "church" with my husband a week ago Sunday and it was so emotional for me, I had to leave right before communion. I left the Mass in tears, crying my eyes out in the hallway outside of the church. I decided to hit the 8am Mass today, Monday July 25th and after Mass I spoke with Monsignor and asked him to keep me in his prayers. He then asked me if I would like the anointing of the sick and I accepted. That brought me peace. I have to leave it in God's hands and I am still afraid of what my emotions will be like the 2 days of pre op procedures and the day of surgery. Makes it really hard, especially because my 14 year old daughter and 12 year old son will be at the Cleveland Clinic with my husband and I. I am sure the emotions the week before are normal. Just am not sure if I am prepared for how much trauma this is going to be on the body and the emotional toll it also takes. Very glad to have found this website.

Met with Dr. Griffin and Dr. Pettersson at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday with my husband. They did another echo and the tumor is 1.9cm. When the first echo was performed in January at my cardiologist office the tumor measured .9cm. I feel a sense of urgency to get this tumor out and am scheduling surgery with Dr. Petterson for August 4, 2016 to remove the tumor from my pulmonary valve

Cleveland Clinic has called and we are scheduled to go down on May 12th, they are recommending removal of the tumor on my pulmonary valve. Will know after the meeting with my husband. The days that I am absolutely exhausted, I want to have the surgery that moment. The most concerning thing for me is the elevated right venticular pressure, which should be under 25 and is at 44. Another echocardiogram will be performed when I am at the Cleveland Clinic. The really great information is they have seen this cardiac tumor on the pulmonary valve before and have successfully removed it.

I was recently diagnosed with a cardiac tumor on my pulmonic valve on the right ventrical outflow tract. It is measuring 1.1cm and was found on an echocardiogram and further testing was done with a cardiac MRI. Doctors at both the University of Michigan and Beaumont in Royal Oak are recommending surgery. My cardiologist and I have discussed doing another MRI in June 2016, echo in September 2016 and another MRI in December 2016 to determine if the tumor is growing. Has anyone been diagnosed with a cardiac tumor on the right side, had surgery? This is extremely rare and I am having a hard time finding information. As a matter of fact, neither of the surgeons I met with had ever seen this before, doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy!