I have a leaky heart valve

[judy]

Originally Posted by gja1000

Dear Judy,
Leaky valves can be nothing serious or they can need fixing, but please do not stress about it till you know more.

I'm betting that your mom had rheumatic fever before she developed the valve problem, correct? Rheumatic fever damages the valve, so if she had the fever before she developed valve problems, that is what caused it.

Or if she had a leaky valve and then had rhumatic fever, that is what made her valve problem worse. Almost everyone who has rheumatic fever has valve problems and if they get old enough, they need to be fixed.

So, try not to worry, till you know more!

My Mom had untreated strep as a child, which led to rheumatic fever, and then heart damage. . She had surgery, but the rheumatic fever really did her in, and she smoked on top of it. She actually died from emphysema. I allowed her doctor to do an autopsy on her heart since she was one of the first to have open heart surgery. He also had kept her alive for over 20 years. He told me that there wasn't enough heart tissue to examine! What a will to live she had.

I know I don't have anything similar, but because of my experience with my mother, the whole idea frightens me. I have also only been in a hospital once as an in-patient, and that was to have a baby.

Jessie is coming with me, and I'm lucky that I have an appointment on 4/27.

I'm still scared, but I'm not going to panic. I just need to know what's up so that I can deal with it. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur years ago, and went right to my Mom's cardiologist. He told me that I do not have a heart murmur, and that the doctor's stethescope was probably broken. My internist also listened to my heart every time I went, and never found anything wrong. I was there less than a year ago. I know I haven't been walking around with something that can damage my heart for a long time.

Anyway, I don't even want to have to take medication. She also told me my BP was a bit high - 130/62. I don't think that's high enough to worry about.

I think I'm so low energy because I'm anemic. My bottom eyelids are not showing any red.