Cathy's Profile

I have always had mitral valve prolapse, and started having episodes of AFIB in my 40's. mostly I converted in the ER, but eventually had to stay for a few days in the hospital to convert back to sinus rhythm. Eventually, I was given electric shock to convert. In 2010 I had an ablation, and had few troubles for the next 5 years. My every 6 month visit with the cardiologist, and echocardiogram and stress tests were normal as could be. I started having AFIB episodes again in 2016. I changed meds.a couple of times..kept having episodes. In December of 2016 I had another ablation scheduled. , preceded by a TEE test. That TEE was as far as I got. That pretty picture of my heart showed that my mitral valve is now leaking enough that I need surgery. I met with a surgeon recommended by my cardiologist and electrophysiologist, and will have surgery. He will try to repair the valve, but would replace it if necessary. Right now I'm waiting to get all this scheduled. Not the way I wanted to start a new year. I am a widow, and the legal guardian for my mentally disabled daughter. Her body is 40.. emotionally she is around 12. My sister is in another state, and my best friend recently moved out of Illinois. Help will be from my quilting and needlework friends. But...this will be hard for both myself and my daughter. I ordered the Heart Valve book right away..and I have learned lots so far. Still..major surgery is scary. I am a 20 year breast cancer survivor. So..I am drawing on some memories of my recovery from mastectomy and reconstruction to help me. Thanks for any help...