I also felt my heart beat lots before my valve replacement, even more in the last 3 months while I waited for surgery, I was watching too close I think. I was always told by medical staff that my murmur was the loudest they ever heard, people only had to put their hand on my chest and could feel the blood turbulence real easy, it was a little un nerving, but I just kept on, keeping on, my echoes & TEE's showed moderate leakage at that point, even after a TIA 2.5 years ago, that really made me feel a bit nervous, so I stopped playing ice hockey at that point. So in my case, I don't believe that the valve leak and sensation I felt was a indication of it getting worse, or mine should have been changed 10 years prior to now.