心脏瓣膜疾病个人故事

塞尔玛·希尔

几十年前她得了风湿热, 西尔玛得知这是心脏瓣膜疾病的一个危险因素, 这是她成年后得到的诊断. Despite some ups and downs, Thelma has maintained a joyful attitude and a healthy lifestyle.

吉姆·亚伯拉罕

吉姆·亚伯拉罕 thought he was “one and done” when he underwent open-heart surgery to repair his mitral valve in 2017. But when a test showed a new problem with his heart valve three years later, “it was a serious wake-up call” to pay closer attention to his heart health.

金伯利Goodloe

金伯利曾亲身经历过心脏瓣膜疾病. Kimberly was born with an abnormal valve, but didn’t begin to develop symptoms until her 40s. She learned she needed an aortic valve replacement in 2009 and underwent open heart surgery, 接受机械瓣膜置换她受损的主动脉瓣. 手术后的第四天, 在第二次手术中，她出现了堵塞, 她接受了心脏起搏器. 

马克·里德尔

马克的心脏瓣膜病之旅始于高中, 在常规体检中发现心脏杂音. 后来，他被诊断出主动脉瓣狭窄, which ultimately turned severe enough to require valve replacement surgery. He's thankful for the care and treatment he received during and after his surgery, completing a 12-week cardiac rehab program and building back up to jogging 4 miles regularly. Mark maintains a passionate interest in researching the use of nutrition, exercise and lifestyle choices to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. 理解一个能够真正感同身受的社区的力量, 他决定以美国心脏协会心脏瓣膜大使的身份指导其他人.

克里斯汀Rekash

At a routine physical, Christine's physician detected a heart murmur. Upon being referred to a specialist, she was told she had mitral valve prolapse. Upon close monitoring and a watchful eye of her cardiologist through routine testing, 她的二尖瓣漏水了. 病情恶化了, causing her heart to become enlarged as it worked harder to pump blood between the chambers. She had her mitral valve repaired through traditional open heart surgery and later developed post surgical complications. Christine has made it her mission to "pay it forward" and provide comfort,  鼓励和鼓舞其他面临心脏手术的人. She shares her tips and tricks in how she is "kicking" out heart disease on beat a time in the hopes of making someone else's journey a little easier.

黛布拉北

黛布拉北 was born with myxomatous mitral valve prolapse, a degenerative form of valve disease. At birth, she survived a heart attack that caused a stroke; she wasn’t expected to survive. For years, her valvular heart disease did not affect her life—she even ran track in high school. 医生告诉她，直到60多岁才需要进行瓣膜置换, 然而在30岁的时候, Debra began having symptoms of valve failure which led to a repair and eventually replacement in 2016. Due to complications from her replacement, Debra expects yet another valve surgery in the future. These experiences led her to become involved with the AHA and join the Heart Valve Ambassador program to help elevate awareness about valvular heart disease.

苏珊强

徒步旅行者和健康饮食者, 苏珊强 was surprised to hear she needed heart surgery in her late 40s. But radiation therapy she had received more than three decades earlier to treat Hodgkin’s lymphoma had taken its toll: Strong had developed severe aortic stenosis and regurgitation. 作为大使, Strong is sharing her story online and in person to support fellow patients — and even to inspire her students to dream up inventions like the one she credits with saving her life. "I want to take what I’ve been through and encourage people and give them hope that they can live a full life.”

汤姆·布鲁萨德

汤姆在59岁时接受了心脏搭桥手术. 庆幸自己避免了心脏病发作, he didn’t expect to have a heart valve replaced and then soon after, a debilitating stroke caused by a blood clot and then learning a few years later that he would need another heart valve replacement.

看，学，活

See your cardiovascular system in action with our interactive illustrations and animations.