Rachel McCord, sister 90210 actress AnnaLynne McCord, has revealed that she has been diagnosed with a heart problem and will have to undergo surgery this month.
Rachel, 34, said in an interview with the Daily Mail on Tuesday that doctors diagnosed her with mitral valve prolapse (MVP) in December 2023 after experiencing episodes of fainting and shortness of breath for years.
“I have mitral valve prolapse and it causes regurgitation, which basically means the valves in your heart should be one-way [face the wrong direction]’ Rachel told the outlet. “I have backward blood flow, so it’s hard to get enough oxygen and blood flow through other areas of my body.”
The TV presenter said she began to notice something was wrong after she faced difficulties climbing the stairs in her home and playing with her three-year-old son Jude. After seeing several doctors, she was finally diagnosed by a cardiologist who performed a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), which takes pictures of the heart using high-frequency sound waves.
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Rachel McCord attends ‘Just One Night of Great Comedy’ in Las Vegas.
Ethan Miller/Getty
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According to the American Heart Association, mitral valve prolapse is a condition in which the two valves of the mitral valve, which is located between the upper left heart chamber and the lower left heart chamber, do not close evenly, preventing the smooth flow of blood from flowing in the right direction to the heart. In severe cases, mitral valve prolapse can lead to serious complications such as heart attack and stroke, according to the organization.
Rachel told the Daily Mail that she will undergo the corrective procedure on February 27. During the procedure, she said she will be connected to a heart-lung machine to keep her organs working while they repair the valve in her heart.
“Technically it’s open heart surgery,” she explained. “So, you know, your heart isn’t beating, it’s on a machine. They have to jump back somehow. And those are terrible things.”
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Rachel McCord and AnnaLynne McCord at the Grand Opening of Alia Beach Club at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on June 11, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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The media personality, who appeared to become emotional in the interview, added that the idea of surgery was terrifying. “I ride the waves, I just burst into tears, thinking about what [the surgery] is like.”
While the road ahead is uncertain, Rachel noted that receiving the diagnosis on Dec. 20 was “confirming,” adding, “You’re like, ‘awesome, we figured out why I feel like I’m going crazy, because every doctor thinks I’m crazy.’ .
Rachel went on to explain that it will take her about three months to recover from the surgery, but that her heart, which has become larger due to mitral valve prolapse, may never “reconstruct” back to normal.
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Rachel McCord shared an Instagram Story after revealing her diagnosis.
Rachel McCord/Instagram
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date with the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“But if you’ve had this problem for a long time and haven’t fix it, then you get into a situation where your heart might not go back to where it should be, so it stays big, which causes heart failure,” she said.
However, she remains optimistic, sharing on her Instagram Story that she is grateful for every “text, comment, DM” after telling her story, and noted that she wishes she could protect her husband Rick Schirmer and son Jude from what what happens next.
“[To be honest,] it’s hard for me to describe in words what this moment looks like. There are just so many colors, twists, turns,” she wrote on Instagram. “I feel incredibly grateful that (after years of tests and confusion) we found an answer to what was going on with me.”
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Source: HIS Education