It took 19 years to diagnose Kerri Powers with SVT. (Supraventricular Tachycardia is a benign heart arrhythmia that takes place in the atrial – or upper chambers of the heart.) She had been an active athlete and touring songwriter, and continued to have events related to this condition for many years before being properly diagnosed. She was often told she was only suffering from anxiety but she knew there was something else going on.
Kerri was scheduled to appear with Lyle Lovett and others at the prestigious Strawberry Music Festival in Jamestown, California in 2010. Kerri went into arrhythmia the day before she and band mates were scheduled to fly out for the show and having no luck getting her heart back into normal rhythm, had to be administered with adenosine.
Kerri had enough at that point as her condition was clearly interfering with her quality of life. She decided to consult with Electro physiologist, Joe Dell’Orfano at Cardiac Consultants, St. Francis and in July, 2010 Kerri had a cardiac catheter ablation procedure to correct the arrhythmia.
In Kerri’s particular case, she was diagnosed with AV node Re-entrant tachycardia. The cure/success rate for ablation for this diagnosis is 95%. She is happy to report having a full recovery to date and has returned to her normal activities.
She has just released a full-length self-titled album and is in the process of putting US tour dates together for spring/summer and a European tour in the works for autumn, 2014. In addition, Kerri has been exhibiting her artwork throughout New England.