Kate's Profile

I was diagnosed with a heart murmur then mitral valve prolapse in my early twenties while living in Pittsburgh. I am 39 now, otherwise healthy, married with 2 kids ages 10 and 12, living in Indiana. Over the past 14 years, my regurgitation was mild then became eventually moderate with occasional symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, some chest pain. Fast forward to this past fall (Sept. 2019) and the regurgitation became severe, symptoms the same but more frequent. Overall, I usually feel great. During my appointment in September, my cardiologist suggested I do research on Dr. Heimansohn (an excellent surgeon who does these surgeries almost daily) and that we should do another echo in 6 months. In March I already knew the news before he said the words...time for surgery. I've watched enough of my own echocardiograms to know these last few were different. Since then, I have been back and forth emotionally. One minute feeling strong and brave, the next a complete mess. Telling friends helped as I could feel their support, love, and prayers giving me strength. This morning, my husband and I met with my cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr Heimansohn. I felt nauseous the entire 1 hour drive to the appointment and quite dizzy for the duration of our conversation with him. However, my husband and I left that consultation feeling so much better about everything. He eased our minds and informed us in such a way that I feel like I actually CAN handle this now. It will be OK. My surgery will be mid-June with a TEE, bloodwork, covid-19 test, and 10 days of quarantine beforehand. My husband (or anyone for that matter) will not be able to join me before or after surgery unless something changes. I'm hoping and praying for change in the next 6 weeks because as if this isn't overwhelming enough, going at it alone sounds terrifying. My surgery will be minimally invasive mitral valve repair. I will still take a beta blocker for about a month afterwards as well as a blood thinner. I've been on a beta blocker since my early twenties and would love to be done with them but we're playing it by ear. This website has been there for me for 14 years. When I was first diagnosed (and scared) I found this website and would read the patient news feed and know that it's going to be ok! Here I am now adding my own story. I thought about continuing to just look on and not join this community but what sense does that make? After all, maybe I can help just one person in their journey the way that so many have helped me. Thank you to every person brave enough to share their story. It's taken me a month from the time I found out that I needed surgery until now to get to the point of sharing on here! This makes it very real. Thank you to Adam for creating this space for all of us! Kate