Stephani’s Story: A Lifelong Heart Warrior

Stephani Remetta was born with a congenital heart defect that went misdiagnosed until she was 28 years old. At the time, the technology wasn’t what it is today, and her heart condition was missed until after she had her first child.

“He was about 14 months old, and my doctor took a listen to my heart murmur,” Stephani recalled. “She thought my heart murmur sounded a little bit different, and so she sent me to Indiana Heart Physicians, and that's when we found out that I had a bicuspid aortic valve.”

After that point, Stephani’s little family stayed small, and thankfully her son had not inherited the heart defect.

“If they had, who knows what would've happened,” said Stephani.

In the meantime, Stephani kept herself healthy by monitoring her heart, exercising and most importantly staying on top of all her appointments.

Stephani’s Heart Condition

Her congenital defect meant that her aortic valve hadn’t formed properly.

“Normally if you look at it, it's almost like a peace symbol. There's three flaps and they work together to let the blood in and out,” Stephani explained. “I was born with only two flaps in my aortic valve. So, what that does is those two are working harder because they're missing their third friend.”

Stephani’s defect was making her heart work harder.

“It was aging at a faster rate than most people my age,” she said.

A Life-Changing Surgery

Ten years later, at the age of 38, Stephani’s journey took a major turn.

“And about 10 years later, at 38, I had open heart surgery to replace my valve, and that was when my life really got started,” said Stephani. “Having that blessing of a second chance of life was just amazing. When I had my surgery, my valve, when we replaced it, I was in my late 30s and it looked like someone who had been in their 60s or 70s.”

‘This Is The Only Place I Would Take My Heart’

“The fact that I went through my pregnancy and then went to the cardiologist and for them to share with me what had happened, it was very jarring,” Stephani said. “I'm thankful that we had the doctors in place to help me at the time.”

Stephani credits her recovery to the strong support of her medical team.

“The cardiac rehab team was absolutely amazing, helping me gain confidence to get to where I needed to be from a health standpoint,” she said.

Today, she continues to take care of her health through nutrition, exercise, hydration and stress management.

Her follow-up appointments bring continued reassurance.

“I did just have my checkup not too long ago, and got two thumbs up from my cardiologist. He said that it looks just as good as the day they installed it,” Stephani said. “That to me, that was the biggest gift that I got out of all of it.”

Looking back, Stephani is deeply grateful for the care she received during surgery, recovery and beyond.

“The team here saved my life, not just during my surgery, but post-surgery,” she said. “Had some challenges in the recovery room with low blood pressure and things like that, and I knew I was well taken care of. So, it's why I will continue to come back to Franciscan Health forever for my cardiac care, because this is the only place I would take my heart.”

These days Stephani is enjoying life with her family and her valve replacement.

“My valve should last me my entire life, which is absolutely amazing,” she said.