About Me (In My Own Words)
I was diagnosed with a murmur at 6 months and Aortic Stenosis as a small child. As with most kids this age, I was told to "monitor" every year and continue on with my life. The stenosis took a back seat when at age 6 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and my care focus went to meal plans and insulin dosages.
I am happy to say that despite my two major diseases I lived a very active childhood and adolescence...playing multiple sports, dancing and never having a single heart symptom.
As I got older I switched to an insulin pump and was able to have 2 healthy children Emmalee (10) and Aiden (7)...still not a single symptom as I worked very hard at the gym to lose the baby weight and continued with my heart "check ups" every year.
Everything changed this spring. While on vacation with some friends I started noticing that I wasn't able to keep up with them while touring around in Mexico. This quickly turned into the "Kim hates to walk" joke and I chuckled and played along and defended that I was on vacation and I could be lazy if I wanted to!
I started to get concerned when I came back home and this newfound "laziness" didn't go away. I started keeping track of things I could and couldn't do and the red flags just kept popping up. The defining moment was at my daughter's swim meet...she lost track of time and was close to missing her event. The announcer was calling her name. I was frantically running all around the pool looking for her when it hit me. I almost passed out and it scared the hell out of me. I knew there was a problem.
My cardiologist, Dr. David Jones, was very kind. While we both knew this was not good news he scheduled the tests and told me to try not to worry. The stress echo did not go well. 3 weeks later I had a heart cath and he had the surgeon on the phone before I was out of the room. I was told I should have the surgery done within 2 months.
I am only 37 so I will have a mechanical valve. I am not thrilled with this as I am a food and wine enthusiast and the though of more limitations really aggravates me. (sorry, I know there's nothing I can do, that's just the current emotion I have on this subject) What I do know, is that I've pretty much had limitations all my life with living as a Type 1. I've always (ok, well ALMOST always) been very responsible with controlling my meds and diet. I'm hoping this will just be another normal....plus I am REALLY looking forward to being active again.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Spokane, WA
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My surgery date is:
September 22, 2015
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Matthew Forrester
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My hospital is:
Providence Heart Institute
