Member Profiles
SUSAN DARROW
Shortly after I turned 41, I suffered a mild
heart attack. Diagnosis was mitral valve regurgitation. Heart surgery placed a
ring in the valve. It took a long time for me to recuperate from this procedure
and I never felt 100%. As time progressed, I went to my doctor many times
complaining of severe shortness of breath especially while sleeping. Several
Pulmonary Function Tests later, asthma was determined to be the culprit. Seemed
strange to me that I would develop asthma overnight. And the medications for
asthmas proved ineffective. 3 echos and a heart cath later (almost 7 years to
the day) 2nd surgery took place. The ring was calcified and nearly closed.
Surgeon took photos as she was amazed I walked in under my own power and didn't
die. Valve was replaced with mechanical valve. While I would have given anything
to not have to go through the surgery the 2nd time, I am so glad I did. I have
not felt this well in several years. The pressure is still high in my lungs
(Pulmonary Hypertension, not asthma) however, the doctor thinks this will get
slightly better over time. I guess I would say the moral to this story is, trust
your body and make your doctor listen. We know our own bodies better than
anyone, and I believe anyone of us could tell the difference between asthma and
Pulmonary Hypertension. I am 49 years old now, surgery was 10 weeks ago. I
bounced back from this one and was back to work 6 weeks to the day. One worry of
mine was a question I asked my surgeon: Will this valve calcify the same way?
Her reply: I don't know, I don't understand why it happened in the first place.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
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