I found out about 15 years ago that I have Rheumatic Heart Disease stemming from an illness when I was young that was unknown to me or my parents. It mainly affects the heart valves, but as the disease progresses other things can happen, such as atrial fibrillation, which I now have. This means taking a blood thinner daily and frequently checking the INR to ensure that the blood is neither too thick nor too thin.

The symptoms were not too bad for a long time, but lately I have become more fatigued and more easily out of breath. Time for surgery to replace the bad valves, which are the aortic, mitral and tricuspid.

My cardiologist gave me a list of some heart surgeons capable of doing triple valve surgery. I began doing research on the surgeons and the hospitals, making spreadsheets to keep things straight.

I met with Dr. Eric Sarin at Inova Fairfax, which is only a few miles from where I live, and was impressed with him and what he said about the surgery that would be required.

However, I felt the need to talk to at least one other surgeon, and settled on Dr. Craig R. Smith at Columbia New York Presbyterian. I am driving to NYC tomorrow with my trusty companions, Jane Began and Peg McCarty, so that I have good support and more ears to take in what Dr. Smith says. The meeting will be at 9:30 AM on Thursday the 23rd.