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Peggy
My name
is Peggy. I’m a 41 year old
housewife from the Midwest.
My story is a long,
complicated one. When I was 6
years old I went to the doctor
for a cold. He found a heart
murmur. I started undergoing
tests, a lot of which I don’t
remember. The tests revealed
sub-aortic stenosis. A
condition in which the area
right below the aortic valve
is narrowed. At that time we
my parents were told just to
keep an eye on me. Over the
years my mother noticed that I
couldn’t keep up with my 5
brothers and sisters, so she
made an appointment with a
cardiologist. At the age of
12 I had my first
catheterization. At that time
you were admitted into the
hospital for 3 days for that,
my how things have changed.
We got the results from that
and at that time I was
borderline. I wasn’t bad
enough for surgery but I
wasn’t “normal” either. So
for the next 3 years I went
for regular checkups. In 1975
I lost my Dad to a heart
attack. He was 41 years old.
That next fall I had another
cath. I was still borderline
but getting worse. 2 weeks
short of the anniversary of my
fathers’ death I lost my
mother to suicide. Thank God
my sister and her husband
(only21 years old at the time)
took the rest of us in. In
1978 I had yet another cath
and they told us it was time
for a valve repair. In
January of 1880, at the age of
18 I had open heart surgery to
repair my aortic valve. They
resected the narrowed tissue.
At that age you’re more
worried about the scar and
being in a “children’s
hospital” then your life. The
surgery went well. I was in
the hospital for 2 weeks
(believe it or not the norm
back then). 9 months after
my surgery I found out I was
pregnant. Sixteen months
after I had open heart, I gave
birth to the love of my life
Kathleen Marie (Kate). Things
were going pretty good for
awhile at the end of 1991 I
started feeling pretty badly.
I went to my cardiologist and
he did another cath. In
January of 1992 I had my
second valve repair. This
time it was a little more
emotional. I was a 29 year
old single mother with a child
I did not want to leave
orphaned, not an immortal
teenager. My surgery went
well. This time I was out of
the hospital in 5 days. What
a difference. Two days after
I returned I had my first bout
of congestive heart failure.
I went to the local emergency
room. They consulted my
surgeon and put me on a very
large amount of Lasix (a
diuretic). I healed pretty
quickly after that I went on
with life and a year later I
married my “soul mate” Neal.
Life was good. In 1995 I
became symptomatic again. At
that time, March of 1995, my
cardiologist decided to send
me to The Cleveland Clinic 400
hundred miles away from home.
There, they decided to do what
was called a Ross Procedure.
They replaced my aortic valve
with my own pulmonary valve
and put a host pulmonary valve
in. They also repaired my
mitral valve, put my heart in
a mesh bag and put a gortex
shield in my chest. This
shield was to show the next
surgeons who did surgery on my
heart exactly where it is.
You see after so many
surgeries your heart may not
be in the place it is suppose
to be in. This shield is a
guide for the surgeons so they
don’t cut into your heart.
This surgery took about 13
hours. I’m just glad I wasn’t
the one in the waiting room
while someone I loved was in
there. Two days after surgery
I developed a staff infection
in my right lung. They pumped
mega doses of antibiotics into
me for two weeks. I was in
there for 20 days. My husband
had to come home to go back to
work so my sister came out. I
was finally released to fly
home with a PICC line in my
arm. This was so I could give
myself antibiotics 4 times a
day for 6 weeks after I got
home. I had a home health
nurse come in twice a week for
6 weeks. Well, eventually I
did heal only to find out 4
months later that I had a
hemothorax the size of a liter
bottle in my left lung. In
October of that year I was
admitted in a local hospital
to have a Thoracic surgeon
remove it. I would have
rather had another heart
surgery. The lung surgery was
far more painful than anything
I had gone through to that
point. Finally, healthy I
resumed my life. Things were
good until 1998. At that
point I started feeling poorly
again. And, again I went to
my cardiologist. Yet another
cath. Only to find out I
developed pulmonary
hypertension. We also found
out that the Ross Procedure
had failed. My doctor wanted
to send me back to Cleveland
Clinic. I refused. He then
sent us to Mass. General in
Boston. The doctor there did
another cath. He told us to go
home and he would call us. We
flew home and the next week he
called and said he thought he
would like to try a
valvularplasty. But he wasn’t
sure it would even take so we
opted for another solution.
My cardiologist then suggested
I go to Toronto Canada to a
doctor who was reversing these
failed Ross Procedures. I
didn’t want to go out of the
country. In the fall of 1998
I was frantic looking for a
solution. I went to Loyola
Hospital in IL. They
suggested a heart transplant
might be the only solution. I
was devastated. We did know
that the pressure in my lungs
had to come down or I would
risk losing my lungs. I
decided to go back to the
place it all started.
Somewhere right in my own back
yard. I was at Wylers
Children’s Hospital when they
first found my condition when
I was a child. It was part of
The University of Chicago
Hospitals. They saw me right
away and began more testing.
They did another cath on me
and decided to try the
valvularplasty. It didn’t
work. In March 1999 I went
through my 4th
heart surgery. My surgeon Dr.
Jeevanandum is known for
working on people who would
otherwise be considered
inoperable or heart transplant
recipients. Dr. Jee replaced
my valves with valves that are
actually the right size for my
heart. I came home 5 days
later and felt great right
away. After this very, very
long year things are finally
beginning to look good. I’m
still on a very large dose of
Lasix but I’m here and I’m not
waiting for a heart. So far I
have my own. I know U of C
was the answer to a lot of
prayers. I found the best of
the best right here in IL. I
don’t have mechanical valves.
I’m not on any blood thinners
and I feel really good. They
say there is a good chance I
will eventually need another
surgery but that’s okay, I
know where to go.
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