About Me (In My Own Words)
This past year has been a year filled with unexpected health challenges and many new realities. In Aug. 2015, the day before I was to fly to Sydney, Australia for a client meeting I was hit with excruciating stomach and shoulder pain. The pain was so bad it was crippling, I could barely walk so my Dr. told me to go the ER. MY BP was 60/40 and after testing it was determined I had pancreatitis caused by excessive gall bladder bile. The pain was horrible, my BP remained dangerously low and they pushed fluids fast and furiously to get my BP up. As a result, I went into congestive heart failure, talk about a shocker! What the heck was happening I didn't have a heart condition or did I?? To make a long story short, after an echo cardiogram it was determined that I had a moderate to severe leakage in my mitral valve and this is what contributed to the congestive heart failure happening after the push of all the fluids, so much and so fast.
This pancreatitis episode ended up causing a decline in my overall health and the mitral valve symptoms worsened every month. After a TEE test in Feb. 2016, I was advised by my cardiologist that it was time to see a heart surgeon to schedule the OHS. The journey began....
I immediately started researching surgeons and the options in my area with my insurance. I found Dr. Riley and he met the critical criteria of doing over 300 valve surgeries per year, many repairs instead of replacements and had very high ratings. My husband and I met with Dr. Riley and we appreciated his professionalism, approach of treating the whole person and discussion on what to expect and options. He was very open, personable and had a great sense of humor and these are all qualities that are important to us. His expertise and experience was also very obvious from what he shared. Facing the fact you have to have OHS is scary and for me it was critical to have faith in my Dr. and be able to talk openly with him. More tests were required before the big day would be scheduled and happy to say the results were positive overall. The angiogram showed that my arteries were pristine so no need for any artery repair. The TEE showed severe mitral valve leakage but my ejection fraction was >60% so that was great news! Based on all the results, Dr. Riley thought there was a 75% chance he would be able to repair my mitral valve and that would be Option 1. Option 2 was a harder decision but in the end if for some reason he was not able to repair my valve we decided to go with the cow valve. I am on the younger side for a tissue valve and based my decision on my work travel to many foreign countries and the fact the mechanical valve has the Coumadin requirement. In addition, there are surgical advances being tested which could prevent OHS when the tissue valve starts to wear out.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Phoenix, Arizona
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My surgery date is:
June 13, 2016
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I was diagnosed with:
Mitral Regurgitation
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My surgery was:
Mitral Valve Replacement
Pacemaker Implant
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Robert Riley
