FROM CAROL MERO. "CRYO MAZE"

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Posted by Jack Drum on April 01, 2002 at 20:03:58:

This is a post from Carol Mero, that she has as a reply to Sandy Roberts post on 4-1-02. I wanted it to be on top so someone just scanning the board would not miss it.

Jack asked me to post a little about my situation. I'm not much of a conversationalist, and been pondering how to put things. I'm 61 and have a bad family history for heart disease (both parents and maternal grandmother all died before age sixty with heart problems). I went for appointment with surgeon on Wed. just to talk about mitral valve repair/replacement, as my cardiologist had decided the time had come. As he looked at my file, he decided I was a perfect candidate for the freezing variation of the maze techinique. I had never heard of it and didn't even know that A-fib could be surgically corrected. I have had mitral regurgitation for at least four years and probably much longer (heart murmer from childhood) found during a CHF episode but was only diagnosed with a-fib two years ago . Been on Coumadin ever since, but no other treatment specific to A-fib. Been on Atenolol for four years for the mitral thing.

I guess I'm a guinea pig, as they have not done this variaton at Baystate before, in fact they are still waiting on some of the equipment, and the Dr. Dan Engleman passed me to Dr. John Rousou who has some experience with the techinque. Hope they all know what they are doing, but I feel so tired and so breathless that I'm willing to do anything to feel better and if I can't, death is better.

Carol


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