Back on Board

Christina Dunn isn’t your average cardiology patient. She’s in her thirties. She hikes. She paddleboards. When we spoke to her, she was in the process of getting her motorcycle license for dirtbiking. However, in 2021, a dangerous condition began to sneak up on her, threatening not only this lifestyle but life itself.

“Sometimes I’d wake up gasping for air,” Dunn recalled. “Just short of breath by quite a bit. And I was always really fatigued. I thought it was all just anxiety at first.”

Her father had been treated for mitrial valve disease, eventually having to undergo open heart surgery. The condition was hereditary, but Dunn hadn’t been considered at risk before. When her doctor didn’t have any answers for her, she turned to her father, whose physician in Massachusetts referred her to cardiologist Glenn Hirsch, MD, at National Jewish Health in Denver. After her first visit, Dunn immediately noticed the difference.

“With Dr. Hirsch, it was a much better experience. You can tell he really cares about his patients. He takes his time, and he knows what he's talking about. He's just a really good doctor,” she said.

Working with Dunn, Dr. Hirsch monitored the mitrial valve symptoms, and in 2023 recommended a surgical intervention. “With this form of mitrial valve disease, if you wait too long to fix it, you get irreversible cardiomyopathy or heart failure,” said Dr. Hirsch. “And unlike other valve problems, you’ve got to search for symptoms and objective findings to determine the right surgical timing for this one. For people with valve disease, it's often a slow, insidious decline. They start cutting back their activities. They think it’s just fatigue or that they’re getting older, but it’s a life-threatening condition.”

Fortunately, in this case, Dunn’s surgery was performed at just the right time. Not only was the procedure a success but, because the condition was caught in the early stages, it was minimally invasive. “Even though it was stressful, I felt pretty good leading up to the surgery, because, honestly, Dr. Hirsch, he was such a great doctor. He made me feel like, pretty comfortable and prepared,” said Dunn. It wasn’t long before Dunn recovered, and when we asked to take her photo, she had the perfect idea to show how far she’d come.