Sooo….

A very interesting story concerning my [1] calcification.

After my [2] Dr. Vaughn Starnes, three weeks post operation.

Dr. Starnes entered the examination room and shook my hand.

He then picked up his stethescope and said, “Alright. Now let’s have a listen.”

I’m sure my heart fluttered. I was so nervous.

There was no regurgitation (leak) in my valves following the [3] Ross Procedure but it had been 21 days since my operation. Could something have changed?

Dr. Starnes looked at me…. And smiled.

“Your heart sounds just perfect. No more [4] heart murmur!”

Peace rested over me. Peace rested over my family. This was great, terrific, spectacular, amazing news.

In reviewing my heart valve replacement surgery, Dr. Starnes told me that my aortic valve was in very, very bad shape and that it was very good timing that I had the operation when I did.

Dr. Starnes went on to tell me that my bicuspid aortic valve was very calcified, very white and really impacting the flow of blood through my heart and body.

Again, he said, “It’s a good thing this surgery happened when it did. The valve was very calcified.”

In that moment, I wanted to ask the heart valve guru if he still had the diseased valve.

I wanted to see it.

I had no idea what a calcified valve looked like and I was interested. “Am I sick?” I thought to myself.

Anyways, I never got around to asking Dr. Starnes for the test tube that contained my valve. I’m sure it exists somewhere. Or, perhaps Nurse Matthew simply threw it in the garbage, next to the syringes and doughnuts?

Regardless, I wanted to see what a calcified heart valve looked like….

Well…. Thanks to the power of Internet search engines… I just struck gold!!!

Here she is… Aint she a beaut!!!!

This photograph shows the aortic valve from above, with a short segment of the aorta around it. The valve clearly has only two cusps ([5] bicuspid aortic valve), and is narrowed and densely calcified - you could put only a fingertip through the opening, which would feel hard and gritty.

Keep on tickin!

About The Author: Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 78 former valve surgery patients to help patients and caregivers better understand the opportunities and challenges of heart valve surgery. [6] To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.