Karate Instructor, John Doss, Recovers After Heart Valve Surgery (Video)
August 18th, 2009Here’s a great patient success story about John Doss, a 56-year old Karate instructor from Michigan. Doctor Ali Kafi, Chief of Clinical Cardiothoracic Surgery, from Detroit Medical Center, performed the aortic valve replacement.
During the video, Dr. Ali Kafi references the use of a mini-sternotomy. To give you a visual comparison of a mini-sternotomy incision versus a full sternotomy scar, please consider the pictures below. The first picture shows a patient with a mini-sternotomy.

The second picture shows a patient (that’s me) one week after double heart valve replacement. Due to the complex nature of my Ross Procedure, Dr. Starnes was forced to use a median sternotomy. As you can see, there is about a five-inch difference in the size of the incision site.

Also, Dr. Kafi referenced some interesting concepts about heart valve surgery in the video about John Doss. To learn more, simply click any of the hyperlinks below:
- Mini-sternotomy for aortic valve replacement
- Severe aortic stenosis
- Leaking heart valve symptoms
- Calcified versus normal heart valve leaflets
- Patient time (days) in hospitals during heart surgery
Keep on tickin!

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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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