Mary's Posts

Hi Mary! I too have had varying results. The last hospital and cardiologist I was working with said that the echos I took for them showed a "possible" blood clot on an inside wall of my heart. They put me on a Warafin regimen to dissolve the clot while I was getting ready for surgery and doing some dental work. While on Warafin my INRs were trending in the 3.7 to 4.2 range which they said was fine and I then had a HORRIBLE bleeding experience (detailed in My Story) while having a deep cleaning procedure on my gums. I have since done a lot of research and chose to move to the No. 1 hospital and surgeon in my area. This new hospital, cardiologist and surgeon did not did not see a blood clot on the echo that I took for them. Either the clot dissolved or was misread initially. This is big time stuff and I have learned to do the research and go with the best hospital and surgeon available. I have found it a lot easier to put my fate in the hands of the best versus others. Good luck!

Yes, I had varying results too. In 2013 I was told I was moderate severe. By 2014 I was moderate. Then in 2015 I was moderate possibly severe again. I was getting frustrated. Eventually I asked for a cardiac MRI just to see what it said. I'm sorry this is happening to you.

I also began reading the echo reports which provides a better understanding. its not that easy to decipher the echo report but if you break down the information you can see what category you fall in. Here is a link to a piece written by Adam entitled Echocardiogram Criteria For Mitral Valve Disease which will help. https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/echocardiogram-mitral-regurgitation-stenosis.php

My echo in May showed the opening of the aortic valve to be slightly (fractionally) larger, than it was the previous year! It's supposed to be getting smaller, tighter. The other values were only modestly worse than the previous year. This is in contrast with the previous echos when the year-to-year changes were rapidly deteriorating. My cardiologist explained that reading them wasn't an "exact" science and that tolerances are allowed, partly because they are measuring things that are in motion. Personally, I don't fully believe the "good" news and accept that the next echo may again show a significant difference from the last one. So, your wait continues... and so does mine. I don't expect a miracle to save us from surgery, but we can thank God that we have such wonderful medical care available to us and those surgeons are our modern miracle workers. Best wishes to you, Mary.

Thank you everyone, I really appreciate all your support and information. Waiting around is hard, I'm planning on just having fun for the next few months. I will be getting a new puppy in a few weeks so that will keep.me busy and then help with my fitness. Best wishes to you all!

I know it is a lot to absorb, I was asymptomatic too when they told me. But when you read the reports, especially when I read mine from my TEE, I realized that it was affecting my heart even though I was not "symptomatic" , though it was pointed out to me I truly was! My reasoning was why wait for more damage to my heart and other body symptoms. So I proceeded and now am 41/2 weeks post surgery. I would do it again in a heart beat, LOL. So you need to have the TEE, it was a piece of cake.

Thank you Susan, I got nightmares thinking about my poor husband waking up intubated after his CABG and he told me how horrible it was! I still can't get those thoughts out of my head, although I thought hypnotherapy beforehand might help, He has done brilliantly btw. I guess we all have our particular phobias! I know that the NHS wouldn't spend 20K on me unless it was really necesssry. I'm glad you're doing so well xx

Mary- when the day comes for surgery, seek out a surgeon and anesthesiologist who believe in early extubation. Waking up with a breathing tube was also one of my fears, but I found the right team. I didn't have any unnecessary trauma - not even a sore throat. Best of luck to you.

I found out that my mitral regurg had progressed to severe while doing pre-surgical clearance for a knee replacement. I was so glad that I could have the knee taken care of first. My MVr was 8 1/2 months later. The TEE wasn't really bad. The tube was put in after I was out and taken out before I woke up.