MARIETTA — Lying on an operating table one Friday afternoon in December, a surgeon drained my heart of blood and stopped it from beating.
This is my “Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?” response when asked how much I enjoyed the holidays.
The trouble began last summer during a routine check-up.
Listening through his stethoscope, my primary care physician, Dr. Feroz Lalani, heard a heart murmur and advised a visit to the cardiologist.
“Was this really necessary?” I asked, thinking of all the things I’d rather do — which is anything — but made the appointment.
“You do have a heart murmur,” confirmed cardiologist Dr. Micah Tepper, after listening with his own stethoscope.
Offering blessed consolation, my godmother sent word that she’d had a heart murmur her entire life and it hadn’t bothered her. But a battery of tests brought…
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