About Me (In My Own Words)
I was diagnosed with mild mitral valve prolapse with trace regurgitation over 40 years ago, when I was in my 20's. I am now 66 years old. I was told it was unlikely that the mitral valve prolapse would give me any problems. In my late 30's I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve, with mild stenosis. I've been monitored closely for over 30 years by my cardiologist.
Fast forward to August 2023 when an echo showed that my aortic stenosis progressed to moderate/ severe. My mitral valve continued to show trace regurgitation. After undergoing a series of tests to determine if I was a candidate for a TAVR, they discovered that I had an aortic aneurysm. Doctors determined that I would need surgery. The Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at University of Miami performs most procedures through minimally invasive surgery, which I preferred to open heart surgery. Doctors decided I could wait 6 months to be reevaluated. I asked for a baseline echocardiogram because I was going to have the 6 month echocardiogram at University of Miami and I wanted them to be able to compare apples to apples. I had the baseline echo at the beginning of November, and to the surprise of the medical team and myself, it showed severe mitral regurgitation and severe dilation of the left atrium. Not sure what happened between August and November, but apparently one of the chordae attaching the mitral valve to the papillary muscle tore.
I had minimally invasive surgery on December 29, 2023 for a mitral valve repair, replacement of the aortic valve (Dr. found that it was severely stenotic, not moderate) and replacement of the ascending aorta. Surgery went well, no complications, but recovery has not been smooth, due to three episodes of tachycardic Afib. I've had three hospitalizations at my local hospital, in the past week, because the oral Amiodarone (anti-arrhythmic) has not been able to control the Afib. I was on IV Amiodarone for my last two hospitalizations in order to "frontload" the medication. I was discharged today with an increased oral dose that they plan to gradually decrease. I was also put on Eliquis after my first Afib incident.
I am recovering well physically from the surgery, but the electrical system of my heart is not functioning very well. The doctors have told me that this is a result of the heart being inflamed and irritated from the surgery, and as the heart heals, they expect less episodes of Afib.
I was hoping that the terror that I felt leading up to the surgery would decrease after surgery, but these Afib episodes are the new source of significant fears. I'm hoping and praying that I don't have to go back to the hospital. I have no veins left for another IV! Doctors told me today that I may still have Afib episodes, but as long as they're not tachycardic, I won't have to go back to the hospital. They were hoping to put me on a beta blocker (Metoprolol) to lower my heart rate, but my blood pressure is too low. I'll update my progress as days go by.
I will be two weeks post-op tomorrow.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Parkland, Florida
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My surgery date is:
December 29, 2023
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
Mitral Regurgitation
Aortic Aneurysm
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
Aortic Aneurysm Replacement
Mitral Valve Repair
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