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Yikes is right on the valve job! The reason the heart thing gives me MUCH pause is that a cousin of mine died in 1995 because she had had a valve replacement done in Nov. of 94 and went into a coma from which she only awakened for a couple of weeks, then slipped back in and died. Turns out, when they opened her up, her heart was severely damamged and no one had ever discovered it! She was on a transplant list, but never got well enough for it, then died. She was only 6 months older than I, so here I am 7 yrs. later, ahem, several pounds heavier, and wondering if there is some hidden damage to MY heart! Her Doc seemed to think she might have had an undetected case of rheumatic fever. Odd thing was, she was NEVER sick, but her brother DID have a case of RF! What bothers me is that MY brother also had RF when he was about 12 and I was 9.

I did have an echocardiogram back in 1996 when I had a different episode of this. I'm scheduled for another the third week of July. Then I have an appt. with the Cardio guy in Aug.

So I will keep your friend in my prayers; surgery is never a casual thing!

Thanks for the prayers and the info.

Family history is so important in health matters. My friend's dad keeled over at age 57, and his grandson was diagnosed at birth, 26 years ago, with the same valve problem as his dad now has.

May the Great Physician be the attending physician. JL

Honey, I'm not going to complain about anything for the rest of the year. You've got a load on your shoulders. Why did we never know this? I'll pray for your heart and I'm asking my friend to add you to her substantial prayer chain. (That's some powerful stuff!).