Patient Stories
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UK Mini Mitral Trial: Ady’s Heart Valve Disease Story
Over the next few weeks, in support of the South Tees Hospital NHS Foundation Trust UK Mini Mitral Trial, a multi-centre randomised control trial on Minimally invasive thoracoscopically-guided right minithoracotomy versus conventional sternotomy for mitral valve repair, we will be sharing a number of patients stories from patients who have been involved in the trial. The first story is from Ady, an NHS psychotherapist and sword fighting enthusiast who was diagnosed with mitral valve regurgitation. Six months after his diagnosis of severe mitral valve regurgitation, and just before his first pre-op appointment at The James Cook University Hospital in September [...]
Sandra Holder’s Heart Valve Disease Story
Sandra Holder’s job in retail meant she was on her feet for much of her day, so it wasn’t a surprise when she started to experience swollen ankles and feet. It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and was told that she was at high risk of heart failure within two years if she was not treated, that she realised it was something she should have paid more attention to. Sandra’s story serves as a warning for others of the importance of having your heart checked regularly. Sandra Holder’s full time job as supervisor of several clothing [...]
P.J. Brien’s Heart Valve Disease Story
P.J. (Patrick) Brien, didn’t think he had anything wrong with his heart, after all, he had no red flag symptoms like tiredness, dizziness or chest pains. However with a family history of heart problems and some breathlessness that he put down to the dusty conditions at work. P.J.’s wife suspected something was wrong. Her caution was warranted and most likely saved his life as it was later determined that his aortic valve would need replacing. In 2005 at the age of 62, P.J. had no idea that there was an issue with his heart. A slight dryness in his throat [...]
Valerie Gabriel’s Heart Valve Story
Valerie simply thought she was going in for routine knee surgery. However, when she attended her pre-op she found out that there may be more than she originally bargained for when it was recommended she go for a cardiogram. Not long after, in 2014 Val was diagnosed with heart valve disease. Before she was scheduled for knee surgery, Val had considered her life quite normal for someone in her early 70’s. She had always managed to stay fairly fit and felt quite happy with the way things were going. She did however sometimes find herself feeling breathless during her usual [...]
Penny Minney’s Heart Valve Disease Story
There is almost nothing that Penny Minney hasn’t done in her 84 years. The former Classics teacher is an avid traveller, author, has sailed the high seas, is an active philanthropist and a lover of swimming, hiking and climbing, not to mention she’s a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. However, she has not accomplished all of this without a few bumps in the road including two mitral valve replacements. But thanks to her treatments, Penny is back to living her full life as she always has - full of energy! Penny lives with her husband Robin, 86, in Witton Gilbert [...]
Bill Dean’s Heart Valve Disease Story
Bill Dean from Mold, North Wales, isn't your typical 77 year old. Bill spends most of his free time in the mountains of Snowdonia as a Mountain Rescue Volunteer, a job he’s been proud to do for the past 50 years. However, a number of years ago Bill worried he wouldn’t be able to continue with his volunteer work when he started to get breathless walking uphill, until an aortic heart valve replacement in 2015 made sure he was back on the mountains feeling better than ever. Bill has worked alongside many other volunteers, some of whom are paramedics, on [...]
Mike Addelman’s Heart Valve Disease Story
It was a chance query to his GP to see a rheumatologist that led to an eventual diagnosis of heart valve disease for 53 year old Mike Addelman of Manchester. An avid cyclist and runner, the diagnosis was certainly a surprise but Mike is grateful for a lucky visit to have his spine checked and the doctor’s keen sense that something wasn’t right. Mike, first and foremost father to son Jake and husband to wife Sarah is a university press officer and formerly a journalist and nurse. Mike’s passions are music and fitness particularly running and cycling and someone who [...]
Mike Thurston’s Heart Valve Disease Story
Aged 53, Mike was training for Insanity, an intensive fitness programme, as he had been doing for the past few years. Ordinarily, he has a low resting heart rate which will usually settle in a predictable way following a work out. However, one session near Christmas 2014 it settled just under 70, which struck him as unusual. He’d always monitored his heart rate closely, and explained to his wife he felt he was running at 85%. He began to get breathless, and climbing the stairs required extra effort. Something was clearly not right. Mike was particularly busy and was travelling [...]
Mark Blatchly’s Heart Valve Disease Story
Mark Blatchly, Deputy Head Teacher and amateur athlete, lived a well-balanced, varied life with a healthy mix of career, family and marathon kayaking, until a shock discovery threatened to capsize everything. After decades of teaching others, he found himself learning the biggest lessons of his life: how to survive a terminal cancer prognosis, then heart valve disease. In 2014, Mark’s wife Rachel, a practising GP, noticed a lump in Mark’s neck. This proved to be cancer in a lymph node. Surgery on his neck followed and for a while Mark was stable. A few months later he found a lump [...]
Natalie’s Heart Valve Disease Story (US)
On a recent trip to the US to support the American Heart Valve Voice, Heart Valve Voice UK CEO Wil Woan wanted to meet with a local patient to find out if their experiences differ from those of our UK patients. So he met with Natalie, 80, from Washington DC who found herself slowing down in 2017 while on a trip to Israel. She struggled to keep up and was frustrated that she was missing out on enjoying her time with her family. She later found out that her struggles weren’t a result of her age but that she had [...]
