About Me (In My Own Words)
I turned 50 in June 2023. I went a little crazy and had a party at the Santa Monica Pier Carousel. A blast! 4 days after the party I did a routine echo (for a heart murmur I had had for about 10 years) and they found out that I had Severe Aortic Stenosis. Initially we thought we would wait until symptoms developed before having an inevitable procedure. But my husband was pretty adamant about us meeting with a surgeon ASAP and creating a team for when the procedure was imminent. He found one of the best cardiac surgeons at UCLA (the country, the world), Dr. Richard Shemin, and we began making contact. But we could not meet with him until I had had more test results (including a treadmill test). Somehow we moved the tests up to August. I killed the treadmill tests. I lasted 13 minutes and everyone was impressed with my performance. Even yelling out ‘keep doing what you are doing!’ as I left. But the treadmill test was abnormal. It turns out every time I exerted myself it was putting a ton of pressure on my heart and actually thickening my heart walls. Everything was white noise after that. My handstands, my rings, my hikes were all damaging my heart. I was like ‘fix it!’. So about a month later (09/06/2023) my beautiful husband took me to Ronald Reagan Medical Center for my open heart procedure to replace my aortic valve. It was the scariest morning of my life. Thank God the surgery went very well. I am beyond grateful for the science, the technology, the knowing hands of my surgeon, the magical surgical team, the amazing nurses and Dr.’s in ICU, the amazing healing ability of this body, my beautiful husband and my wonderful family and friends for supporting me in one of the scariest times of my life. I am also so grateful that this procedure will enable me to spend many more years with the people I love.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
SantaMonica
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My surgery date is:
September 6, 2023
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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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