Shannon’s Unicuspid Heart Valve Discovery
June 9th, 2009You might remember Shannon’s last email about diseased heart valves, pregnancy and child birth. Well…. Here is her post-operative update:
Hey Adam!
I wrote to you several months ago about heart valves and pregnancy. I just wanted to send you a quick update!
I had my surgery on May 14th at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Doctor Ed Chen was my surgeon. I cannot say enough about how wonderful he and the Emory staff were to work with.

Dr. Chen replaced a section of my aorta to correct an aortic aneurysm. I have known my entire life that I have a bicuspid aortic valve, however, in surgery the surgeon discovered I actually have a unicuspid aortic valve (only one leaflet)! FYI, the docs think I should be fine to have kids before replacing the valve!
I attached a picture of my incisions exactly one week after surgery (see above). Dr. Chen was very proud of his work (as he should be) and I was the talk of Atlanta because of the size of the incision and type of surgery.

I wanted to thank you again for your heart valve surgery book! It has made recovery for me and my support group much easier!
God Bless,
Shannon Coughlin
P.S. To leave a comment, please click here.
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| 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 clinical research with the personal experiences of 135 former patients to help future patients and their caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here. |
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