Kathleen's Profile

Hi everyone. Perhaps I was a bit premature in signing up to this site, you see, I haven't been formally diganosed yet. I had a stress test and echo last year and was told by the doctor that there was some calcium deposit on my left ventricle...but it's nothing to worry about. This year My GP did an EKG and strongly suggested that I get an echo...no stress test. Ok..I did that and the last Friday I received a call from my GP that yes, there is calcium on the left ventricle but there was more...the left side of my heart is big and it looks like I have aortic stenosis as well. I have an appointment to see the cardiologist that did the diagnosis to find out if I was under diagnosed last year or if I was over diagnosed this time. Either way I will get a second opinion. If the latter happens to be correct I am leaning on having surgery now instead of waiting until I have an actual heart attack. I am planning on going to Columbia for the surgery. I'm 63 years old, breast cancer survivor and my brain can't get the worry that my radiation treatment had something to do with all this. So, again, I may be putting the cart in front of the horse, but I am concerned and, dare I say, scared, of having open heart surgery. I do get out of breathe...and I feel an ache in the middle of my chest. I'm not thin and though medically I'm considered obese...I don't necessarily look obese. I certainly can lose a bit...but I've been on that roller coaster ride too often in my life. I just have lousey genetics. I should find something out next Friday and then I can move forward. I am also worried about after care. My two adult children live on the west coast so its just me and my wonderful husband. I am concerned about my aftercare. That's my story. Oh, I am a very busy academic teacher-librarian. Thanks for reading. KM