Thanks Paulette, that's really encouraging. My dad had mitral valve prolapse and had it surgically repaired 6 years ago - I wondered then if it would happen to me too. It's just a terrific feeling to be able to turn around a condition that is usually looked on as hopeless.
I also wanted to say, for anyone else who may read this, there is apparently a connection between candida or yeasts and mitral valve problems, so cutting back on sucrose and unhealthy bread products would help too. My family has switched to Ezekiel bread (a bread made from sprouted grains), it's low glycemic and also has very little gluten in it, as most of it is killed off when the grains sprout.