Heidi's Profile

Have had a heart murmur all my life. In my 20’s I had a primary doctor that was really concerned and ran an echo. Was told I had a bicuspid valve and it might wear out and need replacing at some point. Kind of forgot about that until now. I see my primary every year and had a few ekg’s along the way. I have been mostly asymptomatic but now realize last year that socks were becoming uncomfortable at the end of the day so I switched to ankle socks. I had a strange feeling one day last spring and went to the ER. They ran an ekg and said my heart probably skipped a beat or I was having an anxiety attack. They did not run an echo and I did not know enough to ask for one. During my annual, I brought this up with my primary and also told her my hands had swelled after a long walk on a hot day. She said my murmur may be getting louder and she scheduled an echo. During the echo they asked if they could insert dye to get a better picture. I knew then my life was changing. I met with a cardiologist last week and because of my age and good health TAVR would not be covered by my insurance, insurance just approved my pre-surgery testing and now my trans echo and Heart cath are scheduled for Monday 4/29. I am very anxious and scared of the surgery and hate the idea of turning my husband into my caretaker.