Alina's Profile

NOTE: This is my second HVS page. My previous page (https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/journals/mystory/alinafh) was associated with an account whose email address was hacked. Please visit the original page if you want to view all my history with aortic valve replacement and other procedures that I have had. I apologize and thank you for reading and sharing. Now, my story: I was born with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH, for short). Because of that, I have developed coronary artery disease (CAD) in my 30's, as well as carotid stenosis. When I was 35, they diagnosed me also with a bicuspid aortic valve which has been diagnosed with severe stenosis (area of 0.5 cm2 and velocity of 4.99 m/s) on Christmas Eve, 2015. While running more tests for my aortic valve stenosis, they also found out that I have a huge narrowing of the Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery as well as of the OMB artery, which is an off-shoot of the LAD that both required by-passes. Although I have known that most of these will eventually translate into open heart surgery one day, it was not till Christmas 2015 that I have gotten an ultimatum for my upcoming open heart surgery. At the time of surgery (February 2016), I was 40 and I lived in Utah. Fast-forward a few months after Christmas, the surgery (February 11, 2016) ended up being a little more complex than originally planned: they found out that I had a tricuspid valve, after all, but two of the leaflets were glued together with calcification, so the valve 'looked' like a bicuspid valve; they replaced my aortic valve with an On-X mechanical valve, they replaced my ascending aorta, which was completely calcified, with a Dacron graft, and they repaired my aortic arch, which was pretty heavily calcified from many years of cholesterol buildup. They also did a quadruple by-pass surgery, instead of the original double they saw on the CT scan. During my hospital stay to recover from surgery (8 days total), I had am MI (myocardial infarction) in my left ventricle which made recovery a little more lengthy for my heart muscle. I had the surgery at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, and I never thought I would be in such a relatively small clinic for such a serious surgery. My surgeon (dr. John Mitchel) was one of the most amazing doctors I have met my entire life, as well as my cardiologist (dr. Charles Dahl). You find good people and good professionals in the most unexpected places. During my whole heart journey, I hope to gain strength and support from your amazing community. God knows I need both! I also would like to share my own experience, in hope that people facing OHS can gain some insight on what is possible. Thank you for taking me in. I also write a blog that follows my journey with FH and heart disease. The blog is here: http://livingwithfh.blogspot.com/