LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - February is American Heart Month with a goal of bringing awareness to that fact that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the US.
Whitney Tappen had just started nursing school when she began to suspect something might be wrong with her heart.
"I got my stethoscope and I was so excited to finally get listen to what my heart and lungs sounded like," says Tappan. "And I heard a whooshing sound and thought 'well this doesn't sound right.' "
However Tappen wasn't experiencing any symptoms so she dismissed her concerns -- until four years later when her doctor told her she had a heart murmur.
After undergoing an echocardiogram, or sonogram of the heart, Tappen was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve.
"Your aortic value should look like a peace sign and mine just looks like a circle with a line through it," explains Tappen. "There's just one part."
Tappen urges everyone to listen to their body and get checked if you suspect there might be a problem.
"If you have a gut feeling, I think that's what it was, I had a gut feeling the whole time," says Tappen. "Go with your gut."
Along with yearly checkups on her condition, Tappen may face a value replacement in the future.
Currently she works at Arkansas Children's Hospital in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) where she helps children with heart defects.
"This is very personal, this puts me in their shoes. It was meant to be."
For more information on heart defects and the symptoms, click here.