About Me (In My Own Words)
I was born with a bileaflet mitral valve prolapse, probably from my Ehler-Danlos. I have lived with it all of my life without any symptoms. I have had echocardiograms every other year to check on it. I have been on lisinopril for several years to control my heart size. I have noticed that I am getting more out of breath when I dance. The regurgitation recently went (march 2015) from moderate to severe, with possibly broken chordae. I am 47 years old, I teach for a living, and I take 5 ballet classes a week as a hobby. I used to enjoy running, but I get too out of breath to do to do that now.
My surgeon wants to do a full sternotomy for three reasons. One, because I have a bileaflet prolapse, so both leaftlets may need to be repaired, and also some cords may need to be replaced with Gortex ones. Two, the Ehler-Danlos makes me bruise easily and my skin tends to tear easier and I get hematomas easily. Worse case is, I may be more likely to get an aortic dissection when the aorta is clamped during surgery. So having full access to my heart would be best in case something goes wrong. Three, I had radiation treatments to my right breast for breast cancer. The radiation may cause my tissue to not heal as well, which may be an issue if I had the minimally invasive surgery performed.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Platteville
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My surgery date is:
June 11, 2015
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Regurgitation
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My surgery was:
Mitral Valve Replacement
Mitral Valve Repair
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Vijay Kantamneni
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My hospital is:
St. Mary's
