Stories

Christine Greenland aged 71, had never been in hospital before and didn’t know that anything was wrong with her heart. Six years ago, after a heart murmur was picked up during a visit to a gastroenterologist, she was eventually referred to a cardiologist where she was diagnosed with a mitral valve prolapse. Only four months prior, Christine’s twin sister Katharine had been through a similar experience!

Katharine Greenland, 71, has always been relatively fit and active so when she was diagnosed with mitral valve regurgitation it wasn’t what she was expecting. However after her treatment her life has quickly gone back to normal, except for the fact that six months later her twin sister would also be treated for mitral valve disease!

In 2013 Geoffrey Pritchard, of North London was admitted to Watford General Hospital after experiencing an episode of atrial fibrillation and was diagnosed with pericarditis. Geoffrey received a pericardiectomy, and through the associated testing they found another issue lurking, mitral regurgitation.

After living with mitral valve disease for 18 years, Kevin was treated at the Lancashire Cardiac Centre. This is the second of three posts about Kevin’s experience. In this entry, he writes in detail about his experience of the preparation process before surgery.