Moving Toward a Heart Team Approach; Information to Empower Patients
When a person is newly diagnosed with any disease or serious medical condition, they are often flooded both with anxiety and unfamiliar medical terms. The weight of the unknown can overwhelm. Patients diagnosed with heart valve disease hear words like: stenosis, regurgitation, heart failure, valve repair or replacement, blood thinners, tissue or mechanical valves, open heart surgery or minimally invasive procedure. And that list doesn’t even include any of the tests! Feeling unsure while navigating decisions about treatment is completely normal. If you or a loved one is in this situation, you’ve earned the right to feel anxious.