Recognizing the Signs of Severe Mitral Regurgitation: Alice’s Story

After coming inside from doing yard work, Alice Roeling of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, suddenly became very dizzy and lightheaded. Feeling like she was going to faint, she sat down, began sweating heavily, and felt frightened, not knowing if she was having a heart attack, stroke, or what could be going on. Although the episode passed, she knew something wasn’t right and needed to get it checked out.

After visiting her primary care doctor, Alice was referred to Dr. Phillip Smith, interventional cardiologist at CIS in Baton Rouge and Zachary, who specializes in treating structural heart and valve disease. Testing revealed that Alice had severe mitral regurgitation (MR) and was treated with the MitraClip procedure, which Dr. Smith is one of the only physicians in the Capital Region performing. 

Alice felt a renewed sense of confidence and an improved quality of life after receiving the procedure. She shared that she is now able to do things without a whole lot of fear, including traveling again. She was able to travel to see her great grandchild, John Foster, perform on American Idol in California in 2025, and more recently flew to New York to visit family over Thanksgiving. 

Alice’s message to others who may be feeling the same way she did is: “If you want to feel better, you need to get checked out and see what’s going on. I almost decided that the only reason I was feeling bad was just because I’m getting older. But I am so glad I got checked, because I feel a whole lot younger than I did years ago.”