Chelsea’s Story: A Healed and Grateful Heart after Open-Heart Surgery
The last thing Chelsea Cunningham ever expected was to undergo open-heart surgery. The healthy 26-year-old pharmacist led an active life and took good care of herself. However, over the two years prior to her 2018 surgery, Chelsea had experienced periodic chest pain and made an appointment with her primary care provider. Her doctor ordered a series of tests: an EKG, chest X-ray, bloodwork, and eventually a seven-day Holter monitor test to measure her heart activity. Nothing significant was found in any of the tests. As a final step, Chelsea’s doctor wanted her to have a transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) — a noninvasive test that uses highfrequency soundwaves to create a moving picture of the heart. “If the TTE was negative, it would have been the end of the story,” says Chelsea. “The intermittent chest pain would have been chalked up to me being my odd self.” A Diagnosis: Myxoma The TTE did show an abnormality, and Chelsea was referred to a cardiologist at The Heart Group of Lancaster General Health. Although
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Heart Health 2022
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