Patient Stories

A couple years before COVID I could really tell my heart had something not right. Then there was a point where I had to see a cardiologist for blood pressure issues. They saw some leakage in my aortic valve that got worse and worse.

My heart story began back during my working years. During that time I had such stress and so little time to take care of my healthy, I developed some really bad health habits.

I like to flyfish, swim, mountain bike. My goal was always to do a triathlon so I signed up for a couple. But what I started noticing in my long workouts was real shortness of breath and trouble getting my heart rate back down and recovered. 

So I went into surgery, knowing that I'm having surgery and I'm going to come out of this on the other side.

I was born with an aortic valve defect, so I've always known I had a heart issue. After I had my children, my heart became a lot more pronounced. 

I started having heart issues around 1990s and it started with high blood pressure, but then developed atrial fibrillation. It turned out that the regurgitation through my tricuspid valve had suddenly jumped to the top of the scale and needed treatment. 

It started about 10 years ago. My youngest had been born and I was awake with him as an infant. I noticed an irregular heartbeat, and that was the start of finding out I had PVCs.

I was 31 weeks pregnant and was having on and off fever and illness, which lead me to visit the hospital in St Cloud. I remember on the hospital ride telling David this is the ramp we'll park in when we come back to have our baby, but things went completely different.