John's Profile

Hello everyone my Name is John im 64 , I hope you are all as well as can be, I have arrived here in search of support and comfort form those who are like mem scared of the thought of OHS death petrifies me ... I battled Porstate Cancer earlier this year and just as i was feeling better and recovering this ,I had severe shortness of breeth and constantly tired and soemtimes get lightheaded , has most of the test done andn thought i had some pulmonary issues and 2 weeks ago the ECHO revieled severe mitral valve regurgitation I knew someting was wrong i could barly get up a flight of starts without huffing and pufing. and my legs were swelling up a bit. yesterday the Dr redid the ECHO himslef and confiemed the diagonisis. Adn said you need hihs repaired. Being a Veteran adn no other medical insurance i dont have many options but i have to say i ahve alwasy been happy with my care at the VA.. I live in New Jerey they said they will send me to NYU and a Dr called Eugene Grossi at NYU Langone .. and am waititng for my appointment to meet with him to discuss my caee and I assume mnake an apointment for the surgery. I also have afib and i have a pacemake to boot. I travel extensively for my work and fly very often long haul flights. so for those with some pre op experience , i have a few questions how do you deal with the extreme shortness of breath are there any tricks to help make it more manageable and take less strain off the heart . For me as im sure for most the mental dwelling and worrying is overwhelming to think og OHS i couldn't thingk of anything worse to worry about . Thank you in advance to anyone who answers and shares in my struggle , mos tof us come here becasue were desperate for someone to tell us were goanna be ok. My wife and family are super supportve but if yu r like me you don't want to burden them with your stress. John