Hey Shawnee!
I said that in the instance of a poster who said she was looking at surgery within 12 months. That means her condition has already deteriorated considerably, and it sounds like she has passed the point of surgery being a "someday" thing.
I went from just fine to class IV CHF between April 12 (the date my valve likely gave way) and late July/early August when my symptoms became so severe I could not speak a full sentence without gasping. I can't help but wonder if my condition would be better today if my internist had listened to my cardiac concerns in early June, rather than ignoring me. I didn't get diagnosed for another 9 weeks (late August), and then only thanks to my persistence and a careful pulmonologist who took my continuing complaints seriously. My surgery was Sept 5, 2006, just 2 weeks after I first saw the cardiologist, and 3 days after the last tests were run to figure out the extent of my issues.
If your condition is very mild, you might never need surgery. But keep an eye on it, and see your cardio regularly so you will know if it DOES start to deteriorate, so you can go surgeon shopping and avoid an emergency surgery when you are very ill. From personal experience, surgery when you are run down and the heart is badly damaged is the PITS! But you have to wait until the risk of doing surgery is outweighed by the risk of NOT doing surgery. OHS is certainly nothing to take lightly.
