About Me (In My Own Words)
At age 33, I had Mitral Valve Repair in 2009 at the Cleveland Clinic. The repair was successful using an Edwards 28mm Ring, and recovery was pretty uneventful and quick. I was walking around Washington DC on vacation at week 5/6.
I went into the Surgery Asymptomatic. Coming out on the other side of surgery, I had a slight stenosis of the valve. So much so that it limited some higher exertion activities that I had loved to do before ( Basketball, Running). They way I understand it now after lots of research, with repairs some stenosis is expected, and sometimes it can be severe enough to be symptomatic with exercise. That wasn't communicated well to me pre-surgery. But I was ok with the trade-offs believing that I would be problem free as far as my heart was concerned from that point forward.
Some information for others faced with likely Mitral Repair, the hardware used in the repair does seem to matter:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11834049
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24075470
I began having additional issues with exercise starting in 2014 that have degraded over time to where I am now. I have issues with even a fast or extended walk now.
I followed up with lots of Doctors since that time. Cardiologists close to Columbus, OH missed the fact, that Cleveland Clinic Cardiologists discovered, that my repaired valve is suffering from a pretty severe stenosis with high pulmonary pressure due to thickening and calcification and the small size of the Ring. I guess as a result of the continuation of the progression of the valve disease. However, the good news is the other 3 valves are fine, my heart is in good shape, and I have no other major diseases.
So I am looking now at Mitral Valve Replacement Surgery. I have done a lot of research online. And I am going with On-X Mitral valve to be able to use the lower dose of blood thinners going forward as well as technology/feature wise seems to be the best mechanical valve out there currently. Small hope of re-repair, but not much of one. Dr. Kenneth McCurry will be performing my Surgery on Nov 8th 2016.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Columbus, Ohio
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My surgery date is:
November 8, 2016
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Regurgitation
Mitral Stenosis
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My surgery was:
Mitral Valve Replacement
Mitral Valve Repair
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My hospital is:
Cleveland Clinic
