My mother has had a heart murmur for years. When she reached her middle 70's, her Cardiologist suggested that she have an echocardiogram every six-months to be sure it wasn't going to start causing her any problems. In December of 2106, her doctor's office called and informed her that they had some concerns from her October 2016 visit and wanted to schedule an ultrasound to be done of her heart.
An appointment was made and I went with her. While the technician was performing the ultrasound, I asked if I could look at what she was seeing. She showed me the heart valve that was causing the murmur. It was very obvious that all of the edges of the valve had calcified as they showed up white and I could see that the valve was not closing like it should be.
The Cardiologist called momma later that day and told her that he needed to see her to discuss the results of her ultrasound. When we arrived at the office, he informed momma that her valve was not closing enough anymore to get the oxygenated blood pushed through correctly and that he was scheduling her to see a surgeon to discuss valve replacement surgery.
In early January 2017, we saw the surgeon and he let her know that she did need surgery. He told her about her options: 1) If after a heart catheterization they saw no blockages, then he could go through her vein and replace the valve with a mechanical one; or 2) If there were blockages, then he would have to do open heart surgery to correct the blockages and replace the valve. During the heart catheterization, two 80% blockages were found, so the open heart surgery was what was needed. Momma told him that she wanted to put it off until after May because she wanted to be able to go see her granddaughter – my daughter – graduate from college. The surgeon told her that she wouldn’t make it that long. So, with that said, the surgery was planned for March 15, 2017.
Momma's heart valve was replaced with a pig heart valve during a six-hour surgery. How fast she recuperated was amazing! She was up and walking the next day and stopped all pain medication four days after surgery. She said she felt so much better now that her heart was working correctly and pumping the oxygenated blood into her body like it was supposed to do. She was home two weeks after surgery and in May she was proudly seated in the audience watching her youngest and only granddaughter walk across the stage in Little John Auditorium at Clemson University to receive her bachelor's degree in Biology.
Because of research funded by the American Heart Association, doctors are able to diagnose heart problems, correct and extend the lives of people like my Momma. Our family is thrilled to have Momma longer that we would have thanks to the doctors, surgeons and medical advances that have been made by the American Heart Association. Momma celebrated her 80th birthday in 2019 and her next goal was to watch the same granddaughter graduate with her Doctorate in Physical Therapy in June 2021 and be the first person to shake her hand and call her "Dr. Kalec" - which she was proudly able to do. Her heart is still beating strong in 2022!
Joan Kalec
