Here’s an interesting, patient story recently posted at the Daily Mail Reporter in the United Kingdom. As you can read, there are several common elements previously discussed at this blog in Michael Birch’s story – asymptomatic patients, enlarged hearts, post-operative complications, thankfulness, etc.

The founder of social networking site Bebo has had open heart surgery just months after selling his popular website for more than $700 million. Michael Birch had surgery just before Christmas in San Francisco, and was then rushed to Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire last week following complications.

The 38-year-old let millions of supporters in on his progress by changing his Bebo status to ‘I survived open heart surgery! Woohoo!’ The 38-year-old Michael Birch set up social networking website Bebo, which allows people to stay in contact, post pictures and write blogs.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph he said: ‘I had it on December 22nd in America. It was open heart surgery. I had a leaking heart valve ^[1]. I have known about it for eight years. It was benign, but then it stopped being benign and it made my heart enlarge ^[2] and I was having heart palpitations ^[3].

‘It went well. But a fairly common complications after is that you have fluid in the chest cavity. I have just got out of hospital. I was in Papworth Hospital in Cambridgeshire, which is the largest heart and lung hospital in the UK and where they did the first ever heart transplant.’

Birch is now recovering and spending time with his American-born wife Xochi and their three children, Isabella, Joseph and Devon and the Telegraph called him ‘philosophical’ about his health problems coming so soon after becoming a multi-millionaire.

‘It’s one of those things that life throws at you. It was a good year last year and it ended in a weird way. We sold Bebo, Devon was born and I had heart surgery.’

Mr Birch, his wife and his brother Paul owned 70 percent of Bebo between them when it was sold.