'I have mitral valve prolapse': Rachel McCord opens up about her struggle with degenerative heart condition
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Rachel McCord has revealed her degenerative heart condition in a heart-breaking interview.
The TV host and model, who is a sister of '90210' star AnnaLynne McCord said, “I have mitral valve prolapse and it causes regurgitation, which basically means the valves in your heart that are supposed to be one way [face the wrong direction].”
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Rachel's diagnosis took longer than it should have
The 34-year-old told DailyMail, “I'm having blood flow that's going backward, so it's difficult to get enough oxygen and blood flow through the other areas of my body.”
“I'm riding the waves of just bursting into tears, thinking about what [the surgery] is like.”
Mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is identified as a condition in which a person's mitral valve bows or flops back into their left atrium. For this reason, her breastbone will be separated during the surgery and will be connected to a heart-lung machine during the operation.
“It's technically open heart surgery. So you know, your heart isn't beating, it's on a machine. They have to kind of like jump it back. And it's scary stuff, Rachel said.
“I have a three-and-a-half-year-old and chasing him around when I literally am panting for breath has been intense,” she explained.
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Rachel likes to spend most of his time with her son
Rachel further added, “Usually I have to stop even to go up one flight of stairs, and I live in a two-story house. So that's a daily challenge.”
“In some ways, I think my house has made it easier for me to identify it because I used to notice it just when I was doing exercise. But then when I started realizing how much it affects my daily life…”
“I don't drive on highways because I never know if I'm going to have a sick puppy type episode where either I faint, I feel like I'm gonna fade, or I fully pass out,” Rachel told the outlet.
“I've been spending more time with my son and, at bedtime when he's like, 'hey, stay a little longer,' I am like, 'okay, let's do it,'" she said.
“I think when faced with a clock that's like, 'okay, it's 27 days out, it's 20 days out' you start to kind of think about it and you're like, 'wow, every moment is just so special.'"
