Louise's Profile

Hi Everyone and thank you all for sharing your experiences as this site is both a great source of info and great source of comfort. In my early 30's a murmur was discovered and I've had Echo's every few years since then ( I'm 67 now.) Over time, calcification added to the regurgitation and now I have severe rheumatic mitral valve stenosis as the main problem. My Tricuspid and Aortic valves also have regurgitation and the aortic is mildly sclerotic though not as severe as the mitral valve. My heart looks to be a classic Rheumatic heart - I did not have rheumatic fever but I was treated for many sore throats/strep throat and quincy in my youth. My tonsils were removed in my early 20's. In the past two years I noticed I was getting short of breath when swimming or walking up stairs - was this part of aging? I felt my heart rate going up slightly when going for a walk and that used to not happen. Then, in March of this year I experienced a 6mm blood clot right up the basilar artery. Usually, that's a buh-bye world event. Remarkably, I had "companion" veins getting blood flow through and my symptoms subsided. I was in hospital for three days under observation and released on a course of 21 days of Brilinta ( my body did not metabolize Plavix.) a beta blocker, statin and aspirin. The clot dissolved and I had no residual side effects. The in hospital echo showed the much needed cardio consult. My left and right atriums are also enlarged. It was time to do some homework! I'm grateful for this site as I was able to find and investigate all the aspects of the condition of my heart and be able to feel satisfied with the decisions I'm facing.