Wendy's Profile

My aortic stenosis was diagnosed via echocardiogram August 2015. I hadn't had any symptoms that I could detect before then, or for a full year after that. My primary care physician heard a clear murmur and referred me for the echo which put me at a moderate-severe level at that time. My annual echo in August 2016 moved me into the severe range and it was maybe a few months after that when I finally started to experience some symptoms. My cardiologist started restricting my exercise in order to keep my HR from going over 140. Unfortunately, it doesn't take much anymore to push it up to that level. I can hit 130 sometimes just walking around the house. Last year, I was doing an hour of running or aerobic exercise every morning and pushing my HR up to 150-155 for most of the hour and it felt great. I know now that was higher than it should've been. Now my BP is low and my HR is high with very little exertion. And now I'm beginning to experience some of the shortness of breath. So, I'm looking at a surgery date sometime between June 7-16. My final pre-surgery consultation is May 30. I'm pretty scared of this upcoming HVR surgery, but I'm more afraid of having a heart attack. I still haven't decided which type of valve will be best for me. I'm somewhat in the middle of the age range that is usually a key determinant for a mechanical valve, but I don't think I'm a good candidate for a mechanical valve for several reasons. So I'm still waffling. I have a lot of faith in my surgeon, so in the end I'll likely defer to his guidance.