Dianne Galbraith spent about three decades fighting exhaustion, heart palpitations, and more.
She had to rest often during basic tasks and dropped into bed, wiped out, at the end of the day.
"I would get tired very quickly, my stamina was very poor," the Langley City woman explained.
She would go out dancing in her 20s and see others spend the whole evening on the dance floor while she had to make her way to a chair after one song.
"I thought it was normal. I had no idea," she said.
Galbaith would eventually be diagnosed with heart valve disease, likely the result of undiagnosed rheumatic fever from her childhood.
Heart valve disease involves damage to one or more of the heart’s valves and while some types are not serious, others can lead to major complications, including death.
When valve damage reduces blood flow, the heart must work harder, and the body gets less oxygen, leading to a number of symptoms which can include shortness of breath, fatigue or weakness, light-headedness, dizziness or near fainting, chest discomfort, pressure or tightness, and palpitations.
Galbraith ticked off all the boxes and did so for far too many years.
She knew in her 20s that something wasn't right.
"I'd been to doctors many times, complaining that my heart was racing, that it wasn't beating right," she said.
They would do some testing, such as a halter test, but testing never showed any problem. She never felt like she was taken seriously which is why she urges people with those symptoms to demand more from the health-care profession, and most importantly, ask doctors to listen to the heart with the most basic of health-care equipment – the stethoscope.
"I know it sound so basic but they often miss it by not listening with a stethoscope," she noted.
It wasn't until a cardiologist listened to her heart with a stethoscope but on her side, not the front or back, that the valve defect was found. Galbraith was 53 at the time and was told she wouldn't survive more than a few months without surgery.
One of her valves was replaced in March 2012, and her whole world opened up.
"After the surgery, it's like the sun was shining, and the sky was blue, and the birds were chirping," Galbraith said.
The mother of five and grandmother of 11 was loving an active life. She could enjoy walks, swimming, and horseback riding.
More than one million Canadians are affected by heart valve disease, but few people are aware of the signs and symptoms. The symptoms are not always severe and can be mistaken as part of the natural aging process. Heart valve disease can be present at birth or develop from damage later in life from calcification, other cardiovascular diseases and conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure, certain infections and inflammation, or radiation to the chest.
Heart valve disease can usually be successfully treated with valve repair or replacement in patients of all ages. The group Heart Valve Voice Canada is working to raise awareness of the condition and to improve early detection of heart valve disease by educating Canadians on the importance of stethoscope checks, especially for those ages 60-plus.
