About Me (In My Own Words)
Approximately 12 years ago I had a routine annual physical at my work and the doctor asked me how long I had had a heart murmur. Surprise to me, I had never been told that. He told me I needed to follow up with my primary who then sent me to my cardiologist. After an echo I was diagnosed with mild aortic stenosis. So for the next 12 years we have been monitoring it with twice a year echocardiograms. It eventually changed to moderate and then about two years ago it was moderate to severe so my cardiologist told me we needed to start talking about surgery. He has been really good about explaining things to me and since my husband had a mitral valve replacement in 1999 I was well aware of the different types of replacements and regimens. I already knew that I was going to have a mechanical valve replacement due to my age (currently 63) since I definitely did not want to have this done twice. My echo last November was moderate to severe so we figured we had about 1 year or so to go and my cardiologist said I could basically decide when would be the best time for me to have the surgery. In March my husband was killed in an auto accident which pretty much destroyed my world but I am not the type of person who just crawls into a hole so I have been carrying on around the house taking care of everything and my very large garden. I had my last echo in June and when I had my follow up visit to my great shock my cardiologist told me the stenosis was severe and we had to get the surgery scheduled. That blew me away even though I knew it would happen eventually. I was still walking 2 1/2 miles each day (I live at the top of a pretty good hill and it was getting harder to do but I keep on chugging) and I also ride my stationary bike 55-60 minutes plus my garden, chickens, mowing and weed eating the lawn, etc. I felt good for the most part but my cardiologist said that often people don't experience typical symptoms. I told him I couldn't do the surgery until after September since I had already booked my flight to visit my daughter in New Orleans in mid September and had too much gardening to do. He was not very happy since he really felt I should do it sooner. But I overruled him and scheduled a follow up visit for the end of August. Needless to say, I think the stress of surgery, losing my husband plus my 16 year old dog I had to put down shortly after my husband died and all of the work I've had to do on my own began to take it's toll and I decided I needed to reschedule my dr visit for asap to plan the surgery because I knew there would be a lot involved in the planning stage but I still wanted the surgery the last week in September. So, I have my dr visit on 7/26/18 so we can get everything in motion. I have a list of questions for my dr and since I am a person who needs to be in control I want to know everything about the process.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Easley, SC
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My surgery date is:
August 16, 2018
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I was diagnosed with:
Aortic Stenosis
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My surgery was:
Aortic Valve Replacement
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Timothy Williams
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My hospital is:
St Francis Downtown, Greenville, SC
