Chris Andorfer Ward

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting! 
Most of you know that my bumpy health story started in 1980 when I was diagnosed with Stage 1 Hodgkins Lymphoma. I had surgery and had radiation to my chest and back to make sure they got all the cancer.  After those treatments they told me that I was cured and it never came back :) Unfortunately, radiation can do harm to other areas of the body as I found when I got Breast Cancer at 36 and then again at 39. Luckily it was caught early and I didn't have to have any chemo, just surgeries. My doctors thought the breast cancer was probably caused by the rounds of radiation. Fast forward to 2016 when Dr's found a new heart murmur and the Cardiologist discovered that 2 of my valves were leaking.  Last fall, the echo showed that 3 of my valves were now leaking so I was referred to a cardiac surgeon. He said that my heart muscle is healthy but the longer I wait to have the valves repaired or replaced, the weaker my heart will start to get. I had been having symptoms of some shortness of breath and being very tired and he said those would get worse. 
My surgery is set for Thursday, Feb 15th at noon at the St. Vincent Heart Hospital in Carmel, IN.  I am having a heart cath on Feb 14th - I think that its fun that it's Valentine's Day :) My Dr is the head of surgery for this heart center and comes highly recommended, so that makes me feel good! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.  I can truly say that I feel the warmth of everyone's love and prayers and don't feel stressed about the surgery.