After Heart Valve Replacement, Jan’s Planning Her Golden Years

For years, Jan struggled with weakness and fatigue that kept her from enjoying her life to its fullest.

“I was miserable,” said Jan. “My previous cardiologist picked up on nothing; I was told to go home and rest."

Her health problems got worse, and she was hospitalized at Memorial Hospital Miramar. She received a diagnosis of congestive heart failure, was treated for fluid buildup and even received dialysis for kidney failure to help stabilize her.

But Paola Casanova, MD, cardiologist at Memorial Cardiac & Vascular Institute, suspected severe aortic valve stenosis. “We performed a dobutamine stress echocardiogram to see if other tests were underestimating the severity of the stenosis,” she explained.

The test did prove the severity, and Jan received a TAVR transaortic valve replacement.

Now age 70, her recovery has allowed her to spend her golden years enjoying life with her daughter, her son and four beloved grandchildren.

“I’m feeling much better now,” she said.