February every year means a lot to me. February is Red Dress Month which is a foundation to help prevent and support women with Heart Disease. I was born with Pulmonary Stenosis. Pulmonary Stenosis is when oxygen-depleted blood is pumped through the pulmonary valve to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Normally the pulmonary valve has three leaflets. If these leaflets are malformed, the valve may become narrowed (stenotic) or leaky (insufficient) and can enlarge your heart. Depending on how severe it is you can have a hard time exercising or breathing. If you have a stenotic or insufficient pulmonary valve, you'll need to take antibiotics to prevent endocarditis which can cause an infection that will go to your heart and kill you. During pregnancy you'll likely handle it well if you have mild or moderate stenosis or regurgitation. If your lesion is severe, pregnancy may be higher risk, particularly if you have an artificial valve. Your cardiologist should be involved in your care during pregnancy and delivery.
My first Open Heart Surgery took place when I was 3. During that procedure they made two incisions in the valve to widen it. I had my second Open Heart Surgery when I was 26. My entire Pulmonary Valve was replaced with a Porcine Valve (aka Pig valve). At 26 I completely understood how serious and dangerous this surgery could be. They put you on a heart and lung machine which will continue to keep your heart pumping while they repair or replace your valve. This requires them to stop your heart, repair or replace and then restart your heart. There is always a chance that it will not restart. When I was three they had to use the defibrillators to restart my heart. During my surgery at 26 my heart started again when they took it off the machine. After I was "out of the woods" my surgeon told my mom that I was fine and recovering in ICU. Being a Mom, she asked if everything went okay and my surgeon very bluntly stated, "She did fine, yesterday I had a patient that is the same age as your daughter and had the same procedure done and we couldn't get her heart restarted and she passed away."
My cardiologist and I work closely to do check ups and make sure that the pig valve is functioning properly. I do have some leakage of the valve but it is not serious enough to replace at this time. Porcine valves don't have an expiration date on them and Doctors are unable to determine how long they hold up before needing to be replaced.
I share this with you all because many women, including me, support Breast Cancer Awareness. Yet few women realize that Heart Disease is the #1 killer in women. So take a few minutes this month to wear something red to show support for those women who are struggling with heart disease. Please take care of each other and take care of yourselves to prevent heart disease. Awareness and steps to prevention are your best bet that you won't have to deal with this terrible killer.
