About Me (In My Own Words)
So my name is Kim I am going to be 47 years old September 7th and have been married now going on 27 years. I have a 27 year old son with my husband. I was diagnosed back when I was approximately 2 years old when I was having complications as I was playing on the floor according to my mother. She said I turned blue and she thought maybe I was choking on a toy but when they rushed me to the hospital they found that my Aortic valve did not function properly and that I had also a very dominating heart murmur. I was then referred to see a cardiologist which I followed till I was approximately 37 yrs old till my husband had a heart attack and he needed to be followed by a cardiologist too.
But that's a whole nother story. I will say though that he did survive the heart attack and he now has 4 stents and runs more marathons than I can count. So I guess it was approximately 2 years ago I was walking down the sidewalk after dinner with my husband and I got so extremely short of breath that I could not walk I had to physically stop to try to catch my breath. I called my doctor and of course he asked me to come in sooner than later which I did and at that time I had my typical echocardiogram and he came into the room and he said to me that we're getting closer to that time . I lost it I was not mentally or physically prepared to even consider going through this surgery although I have known my entire life that sooner or later this day would come. We elected to wait 3 months and for me to come back to get another echocardiogram and see where things stood. I went back June of 2017 and we had the test repeated at that time there were no changes from April. So now we're back to one year before I have to come back again. I just went back and saw him this Friday and my numbers have almost doubled. The numbers that doubled were my aortic mean gradient and my aortic peak gradient. So now we're back to 3 months again. I know the surgery is coming I have known this my whole life but I'm petrified I have a young son 27 that is not married I have no grandchildren and I'm fearful of this Procedure. I started reading and I understand that the survival rate is in the nineties but this isn't getting a hysterectomy like I had when I was 29 this is so much more involved. I know if it is God's will then I will live to see my grandchildren. My husband tries to tell me not to get so worked up over this but it's not that easy. Yes he had a heart attack but he doesn't remember any of it as far back as yhe day prior to his heart attack. So as much as I know he is trying to be supportive to me I just don't think he completely understands the fear and exactly what is involved with this procedure to see how serious it is. We're not talking yet about what type of valve I'm sure that will come when I go to see the surgeon but with my personality I need to start preparing. I need to know if I should be donating blood I plan on writing letters to all of my close important family and friends to me just in case. I think this is why my husband gets upset but it's realistic there's no 100% guarantee of me surviving this so I've got to be prepared. Maybe I am over reacting a little and maybe it's just the fear of the unknown right now to me that's making it harder. I am glad I came across this website I wanted to put my story out there so far and I plan on really looking at the website and reading everybody else's stories. Thanks for letting me rant and I'm sure there will be more to come.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Nottingham, MD
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Regurgitation
Aortic Stenosis
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
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My hospital is:
University of Maryland
