Learning the hard way
Pam Husband did everything she could to avoid valve replacement surgery. Then she ran out of time.
Second valve, second chance
More than 20 years after open-heart surgery to treat aortic stenosis, Len Parry’s valve was failing. At 91, what options would he have?
‘I’m part of a club that nobody wants to join.’
Dean Snow has had open-heart surgery three times. As a psychologist who works with heart patients, he has unique insight into the ways valve disease can impact mental and emotional health.
“You can be the picture of health, but still have this underlying issue.”
Active and high-energy, Bobbi Ann Brady knew she had a heart murmur, but she didn’t worry too much about it. Then her baby received the same diagnosis.
“I’m coming through this.”
Rena was 58 when she learned that she had lived her whole life with a congenital heart defect — a bicuspid aortic valve. Determination and a positive attitude helped her face an uncertain future and eventual open-heart surgery.