Is Surgery an Option?

[sunni_sideup]

I am a 35 year old female.  I am a serious athlete, which is what allowed the condition to be revealed.
My question is simple:
I'm seeing some discussion of minimally-invasive surgery and wonder if this is recommended for a mild leak.  
This was only diagnosed about 2 months ago... the catch is that over the last 8 years or so, every time I've increased the intensity of my excercise, the symptoms have gotten more noticeable.  I finally ended up really short of breath and naseaous from it and a few days later was getting an echo.

It just seems logical to fix it now at 35 and in great over-all condition than to wait until I'm 75 and have to have surgery.
I don't want to have to limit activity.  I used to be really heavy and sort of depressed and my involvement with sports has turned those things around dramatically.  

Any thoughts?

[sunni_sideup]

I go back to the cardiologist next week and once I get more detail and have my questions addressed there, I'm planning to go for full second opinion at Duke.  

If I wasn't a competitive athlete, I'd agree that mild insufficiency isn't that big of a threat but the symptoms I have disallow me from doing the healthy things I want to do with my body.  The swelling is really uncomfortable - I can't get my legs to fire quickly.
The chest pain/nausea from lack of air knocks me out of drills or lands me on the bench in games sometimes.

From a vanity perspective, I am 35 and single.  I'm tired of having swollen legs.  It's embarrassing for me.  I live in Arizona where there aren't a lot of options for training indoors.  An athlete on a diuretic here is a person with a death wish... it's been 102 - 108 since July 4 with the exception of two days (97) a few weeks ago.  It's misery to be carting around a ton of extra fluid and to be shoving ice packs in my sports bra to control the effect of exertion.

So much to think about!!
Thanks for the responses - this forum is awesome!!

[kenkeith]

A renown cardiologist associated with the Mayo Clinic who has done over a thousand valve operations has stated the biggest problem he sees is the patient has waited too long.  To wait runs the risk of an enlarged heart, and that condition can compromise a successful outcome.  

A mild leak is usually considered medically insignificant and may never progress.  I don't know what information you are relying on to be considering surgery with mild regurgitation.  .  

[mammo]

Does your cardiologist feel it best to do it now?  If it were me, I'd do it now.  You're young enough to endure the surgery, which you may not be able to do when much older.  Plus, if this is going to limit your activities in the future, why not do it so that you can get on with your life?