katielady72
Member
Hello folks,
I thought I would introduce myself to the community. I am 41 years old and was born congenital bicuspid aortic valve. My parents were told when I was born that there would come a time in the future that I would need surgery and left it at that. During my childhood I struggled with weakness and fatigue quite regularly. When I was 20 I became pregnant with my first child and at that point was diagnosed with mild AS and Noonan syndrome. (the 2 are not related to each other). My doctors were surprized that find that I had AS instead of PVS which is more commonly associated with Noonan syndrome. Anyways, at that point I started to be monitored annually for my AS and by my mid 30's I had reached the moderate stage. I continued to struggle with weakness and fatigue throughout my 20's and when I was found to be moderate they also discovered I had A Fib. I was then given medication and aspirin to help. Fast forward to my 39th birthday and I began experiencing fainting spells and I would even faint in the shower and wake up on the floor. That went on for another year or so. It was at that point that my cardio sent me to see the surgeon and we began discussing my AVR. He was sure that I could hold out for another year, and I made it 6 months. July 17th of this year I had my AVR and was given a St. Jude mechanical valve and I also had a PVI to fix the A Fib. After the surgery my resting heart rate was way to high and it sat around 130-140 regularly so was then diagnosed with atrial flutter which apparently had been masked by the A Fib and my AS as before the surgery I had a resting heart rate around 45-50. I was scheduled for an ablation 3 weeks after my AVR however while I was waiting to get checked into the hospital my heart shocked itself into a normal rhythm and I didnt need to have the ablation after all. Now almost 12 weeks later my heart rate is sitting in the 70's and I am doing very well. I am up to walking close to 20 minutes a day and I am managing my own cardiac rehab. I get my active heart rate to around 95-100 when I am walking and that is exactly where they want it. I am getting used to the Warfarin and the frequent visits to the anti coag. The ladies there are becoming my friends as I see them so much lol. I have had no sign of the flutter returning so I guess I got lucky that day and my heart just fixed itself in that respect. I have 2 children, my daughter who also has a congenital bicuspid aortic valve, and my son who was born with HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome) and passed away at 9 days old. I have learned to just take life one day at a time and now that I am "fixed" I do it even more.
Well, that just about sums it up, thanks for reading and allowing me to tell my story
I thought I would introduce myself to the community. I am 41 years old and was born congenital bicuspid aortic valve. My parents were told when I was born that there would come a time in the future that I would need surgery and left it at that. During my childhood I struggled with weakness and fatigue quite regularly. When I was 20 I became pregnant with my first child and at that point was diagnosed with mild AS and Noonan syndrome. (the 2 are not related to each other). My doctors were surprized that find that I had AS instead of PVS which is more commonly associated with Noonan syndrome. Anyways, at that point I started to be monitored annually for my AS and by my mid 30's I had reached the moderate stage. I continued to struggle with weakness and fatigue throughout my 20's and when I was found to be moderate they also discovered I had A Fib. I was then given medication and aspirin to help. Fast forward to my 39th birthday and I began experiencing fainting spells and I would even faint in the shower and wake up on the floor. That went on for another year or so. It was at that point that my cardio sent me to see the surgeon and we began discussing my AVR. He was sure that I could hold out for another year, and I made it 6 months. July 17th of this year I had my AVR and was given a St. Jude mechanical valve and I also had a PVI to fix the A Fib. After the surgery my resting heart rate was way to high and it sat around 130-140 regularly so was then diagnosed with atrial flutter which apparently had been masked by the A Fib and my AS as before the surgery I had a resting heart rate around 45-50. I was scheduled for an ablation 3 weeks after my AVR however while I was waiting to get checked into the hospital my heart shocked itself into a normal rhythm and I didnt need to have the ablation after all. Now almost 12 weeks later my heart rate is sitting in the 70's and I am doing very well. I am up to walking close to 20 minutes a day and I am managing my own cardiac rehab. I get my active heart rate to around 95-100 when I am walking and that is exactly where they want it. I am getting used to the Warfarin and the frequent visits to the anti coag. The ladies there are becoming my friends as I see them so much lol. I have had no sign of the flutter returning so I guess I got lucky that day and my heart just fixed itself in that respect. I have 2 children, my daughter who also has a congenital bicuspid aortic valve, and my son who was born with HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome) and passed away at 9 days old. I have learned to just take life one day at a time and now that I am "fixed" I do it even more.
Well, that just about sums it up, thanks for reading and allowing me to tell my story
