Mary's Profile

I was diagnosed with BAV nearly 20 years ago and in an early January 2022 routine echo was very surprised to see how much my valve had deteriorated over the last 3 years---I had been blissfully unaware of this (more like denial I now think). I'm pretty active but see that I may have been attributing some of my mild symptoms to other things. I honestly believed (and this had been reinforced by my cardiologist) that I had another 10 years before needing valve replacement but, alas, this was not to be. I was offered both TAVR and SAVR. While TAVR was the more appealing option for me I decided that surgery is still the gold standard for BAV folks who are low surgical risk. It was a difficult decision but hopefully the right one for me. So thankful for this site -- its great to have so many educational resources in one spot and to learn of others experiences. It's definitely given me a way to deal with the anxiety and worry as I await surgery.