Evelyn Quintero

Hello to Everyone,

 My name is Evelyn Q. I am 40 years old. I have one daughter and a wonderful sister which made my decision easier because I owe it to them. I feel happy to say I did it, and that my daughter and sister still have me around. I recently had an Aortic Valve Replacement done. My surgery took place at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami Beach Florida. My surgeon, great surgeon took his time to explain the pro and the cons. First of all, I had Aortic insufficiency of 3+ 4. I was born with a bicuspid valve instead of tricuspid. I have known about my situation for nearly 6 years. Finally some symptoms were creeping up slowly but surely. I was feeling tired, shortness of breath, palpitatipions and nearly the feeling of passing out. I spoke to my surgeon; we talked about it and decided what was best for me. My surgery was done On November 27, 2002. I was operated at 5:30pm done by 8:30pm taken to ICU and around 2:00 am I woke up with the breathing tube. I was calm, I was signaling with my hands to give me a pen to write. The respiratory Tech handed me a pen and paper and I wrote, when are you removing this, please doit quickly. Shortly after that they remove it. The Respiratory Therapist showed me what I had written, sloppy but understandable. I was in the ICU for 1 day. My daughter and my sister were the first to see me that morning. My daughter cried, but I gave her thumbs up and asked why you are crying MOM is fine I did it. My sister was the strong one, she did not cry but I felt her pain since I am the smaller sister. On the 2^nd day I was put in the Telemetry floor for the next 6 days. There I was getting my Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, pain killers and my coumadin. Coumadin here I am 2 months later still my cardiologist adjusting the milligrams. After 2 months I feel better, no more tiredness, passing out feelings, no palpitations and still a little shortness of breath. My cardiologist says it is normal after surgery. Let’s see as time goes by. I will be going for my first echo on February 24, 2003 hopefully my St Jude mechanical valve is working well. This story is dedicated to my daughter and sister which are the real reason why my valve keeps ticking.

 Any questions please feel free to e mail me at tasbeeh@stis.net

 GOD BLESS YOU ALL