Jennifer's Profile

Greetings from Motown. I'm new to this site, but I'm so happy I found it. Back in November during my annual physical, I had an extremely high resting heart rate that was later diagnosed as atrial fibrillation. For most of my life, I've had a heart murmur from a mitral valve prolapse. Apparently, the MVP has weakened my mitral valve, which has caused mitral regurgitation (and the A-fib episode). I've worn a heart monitor for 30 days, had an echocardiogram and a cardiac MRI in December. Test results confirmed my cardiologist's suspicions: MV regurgitation. The A-fib hasn't happened since then, and I honestly feel fine. But that's not the point. On Feb. 19, I met with my heart surgeon, Dr. Steven Bolling, at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. He was very direct: Better to have my mitral valve fixed now at age 58 rather than wait for more symptoms and deal with a damaged heart. So, my surgery is scheduled for May 29. Praying they can do the less-invasive method from my right side. On March 7, I had a cardiac catheterization to ensure there are no coronary blockages. There are none — yea! I also had a "TEE," transesophageal echocardiogram, on May 4 at my pre-op visit to see just how much excess blood is flowing backward into my left atrium. A lot, apparently. I'm trying to just take one thing at a time. The odd thing is I've been through open-heart surgery before -- in 2001 -- to remove a benign hemangioma (cardiac tumor). I was 41. No symptoms with that either. Just a diligent internist with good instincts. She found the A-fib last November, too. I'm confident I have the right surgeon, and I'll be as good as new once it's over. Maybe better. Thanks for reading. JJ