Love and Support: An 80-year-old mother’s journey with aortic stenosis

(NewsUSA) – All her life, Darian Tymes has been a high-energy woman with a positive spirit and a can-do attitude. When she started losing her breath and feeling fatigued simply moving from room to room, 80-year-old Darian and her children knew that something was wrong. With the support of her daughters, Darian made frequent visits to a local cardiologist to try to find the cause of her breathlessness. Unable to make a full diagnosis, her cardiologist referred her to a specialist, Mustafa Ahmed, M.D. “When she came into my office the first time, I knew she was in trouble,” said Dr. Ahmed. “You knew something was wrong because she is someone who is normally extraordinary, active and independent, and at that moment I saw her quality of life was being impacted.” After running tests, Dr. Ahmed was able to diagnose Darian with severe aortic stenosis (SAS), a progressive disease that occurs when the heart’s aortic valve narrows, preventing blood from flowing normally. Symptoms of SAS can include chest pain, rapid heart rhythm, trouble breathing and shortness of breath, lightheadedness, difficulty walking short distances, swollen ankles or feet, and difficulty sleeping or needing to sleep sitting up. Sometimes, it can be...