The Story Behind My Topic Choice

It has been almost a year since the most tragic event in my life happened: the loss of my dad. He suffered from Aortic Stenosis, which is when your heart’s aortic valve narrows and becomes obstructed. When your aortic valve becomes obstructed, it makes your heart work harder than it should. My dad found out he had Aortic Stenosis when he was getting prepared for a knee surgery around nine years ago. They had to check if his heart was strong enough to withstand the surgery, and they found that he had Aortic Stenosis. The practitioners reassured him that there was nothing to worry about; his heart just needed to be monitored every few months and he wouldn't need surgery for another twenty years. My dad went on living an active and leisurely life, getting his heart supervised as directed. He loved working outside and making sarcastic jokes to me. It seemed like everything was going well for our family, but unexpectedly, my dad passed away. That was the hardest period of my life. When his autopsy results came back, it was confirmed that he died because of Aortic Stenosis. Knowing this frustrated me immensely. I was angry at the physicians who told him that he wouldn’t need treatment for twenty years, and I was mad at his current doctors for not doing something earlier. Because of my rocky past, I chose to research about the time between the diagnosis time and the treatment time of patients with Aortic Stenosis, and more   importantly, why doctors prolong that time so much when the treatment could determine life or death. 

1. Dad and I at home on Halloween. Personal Photograph by Kirsten Edmonds. 31 October 2004