The main symptoms of aortic stenosis are:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Fatigue<\/li>\n
- Shortness of breath<\/li>\n
- Chest pain<\/li>\n
- Rapid fluttering heartbeat<\/li>\n
- Trouble walking short distances<\/li>\n
- Reduced routine activity level<\/li>\n
- Fainting and lightheadedness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Linea (Lin) Erickson, 79, of Collinsville is one of the many patients Schulman and heart experts at the Calhoun Cardiology Center have been able to help to pinpoint their troublesome symptoms to help make a rapid diagnosis of the condition.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
Linea Erickson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cLin was having severe limitations due to severe aortic stenosis,\u201d says Schulman, her cardiologist at UConn Health.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time I was getting a little breathless when I exerted myself,\u201d says Erickson. \u201cI felt weaker and not feeling up to doing things.\u201d<\/p>\n
She thought it may be her lungs as she never had an issue with her heart. But in the end it turned out to be her heart\u2019s aortic valve.<\/p>\n
Erickson is very happy her heart condition was caught and diagnosed before it progressed to a dangerous level.<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Schulman is a joy! He would always call to check on me. He was on top of my condition the whole way. I can\u2019t say enough about him. He\u2019s great. He got me through this,\u201d says Erickson. \u201cWhen I was told about my aortic stenosis I thought \u2018it\u2019s not my heart. It\u2019s my lungs\u2019. But then I realized everything works together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her aortic valve was one-quarter inch of what normalcy would be an echocardiogram test showed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll know when it\u2019s time to have something done,\u201d Schulman informed her.<\/p>\n
This past summer she realized it was finally time, as her aortic stenosis symptoms were progressing faster than expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was listless. I couldn\u2019t do the things I used to do,\u201d says Erickson who cares for her five acre property herself.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t able to get on the tractor,\u201d says Erickson. \u201cI kept telling myself I will do it tomorrow. But tomorrow came and I still didn\u2019t have the energy to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She adds: \u201cI wasn\u2019t able to breathe very well, and it felt like my whole body was shutting down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erickson had a minimally invasive TAVR procedure at another hospital as UConn Health will be launching its new TAVR program soon. UConn Health’s TAVR program will combine the expertise of Dr. Chittoor B. Sai Sudhakar<\/a>, the new chief of cardiothoracic surgery who has significant experience in the field of TAVR over the last 12 years, and Dr. JuYong Lee<\/a> who serves as director of vascular medicine, endovascular medicine and the non-invasive vascular laboratory. Together, these experts are currently laying the foundations for the TAVR program at UConn Health and plan on starting the program shortly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke up and I could breathe. That is such a wonderful thing,\u201d says Erickson about the aortic stenosis procedure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am doing quite well. Little by little things are getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erickson is happily looking forward to the end of winter and green grass.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope to be on my tractor this spring!\u201d<\/p>\n
Her strong recommendation to others: \u201cIf you have shortness of breath talk to your doctor. If you don\u2019t feel good, don\u2019t hesitate to see a cardiologist. Don\u2019t question \u2013 just go!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As we age our heart\u2019s aortic valve can narrow leading to aortic stenosis. Find out more about the warning signs of this condition that is common in those over the age of 65.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":181598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1969,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1873],"class_list":["post-181589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiology","category-uconn-health","series-heart-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-29 07:13:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181589"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181589\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":182285,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181589\/revisions\/182285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/181598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181589"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=181589"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=181589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Linea-Erickson-e1644340146724-257x300.jpg\")