Great news! We have another patient success story!

After aortic valve replacement surgery due to aortic stenosis last May, Barbara Walters returned to The View yesterday. In case you missed it, the show opened with a fun parody about Barbara’s recovery and a meaningful discussion about heart disease.

During the show, Barbara and her co-hosts discussed many topics including:

• Diagnosing aortic stenosis
• Open heart surgery scars for women
• Median sternotomy (sternum incision)
• Walking during the early recovery

Also, we finally learned who performed Barbara’s heart valve surgery. It turns out that Barbara Walters’ heart surgeon was Dr. Craig Smith, the Chairman of the Department of Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Doctor Smith performed quadruple bypass on former President Bill Clinton in 2004.

Dr. Craig Smith, M.D. – Barbara Walters’ Heart Surgeon

On Wednesday (today), the show is going to further discuss Barbara Walters’ heart valve surgery and recovery. If you are interested, don’t forget to tune-in or set your DVR!

Keep on tickin’ Barbara!

Ted just sent me an email that rekindled a memory about my stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) following heart valve surgery.

He writes, “Adam – My wife is going in for aortic valve replacement next week. I want to support her morning, noon and night. Do you know if I will be able to stay in the ICU overnight with her? Thanks, Ted”

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I just received a question from Dawn about her recent diagnosis of mitral regurgitation.

Dawn writes, “Adam – Two days ago, I was diagnosed with “moderate to severe” mitral regurgitation. My cardiologist told me that surgery is likely in the next 24 months. Needless to say, I’m confused by all of this and looking to learn more. I never even knew I had a prolapsed valve. I’m curious to know what mitral regurgitation sounds like but I don’t own a stethoscope. By chance, do you have any MP3s you can send me? Thanks, Dawn.”

While I don’t have any audio files to send Dawn, the video above contains the actual sounds of a heart beating with mitral regurgitation. Do you hear the muffled sound of the heart beat? For comparison, I included the sound of a normal heart beat below.

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Cindy just sent me this great email. Given her unique story, I thought you might really enjoy it.

Hi Adam,

I have written you before about the recovery from heart valve surgery. We exchanged emails about when you really felt healed. Last year, I had mitral and tricuspid valve repair by Dr. David Adams in New York — even though I live in California.

We just returned from our summer vacation in Jackson, Wyoming. While I’ve been there many times, this experience was SO different!!!

Cindy & Rich Tarver, Double Heart Valve Repair Patient, Hiking at 7,000 Feet Post-op

I was able to hike and SEE lakes that I never could see before! Prior to surgery, the altitude was too much for my severely damaged valve.  (So you know, I’ve had problems with mitral valve prolapse since childhood, gradually getting to the point of 100% mitral regurgitation with calcified leaflets.)

This year, I was hiking at 7,000 feet with NO shortness of breath!

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I just received an interesting question from Jenny about the size of a mechanical heart valve replacement.

Jenny writes to me, “Adam – Like many patients on your blog, I’m preparing for aortic valve replacement. I’m young, 29, with a bicuspid aortic valve that has severe stenosis. I’m thinking a mechanical valve is the best option for me. However, I can’t stop thinking about the little device clicking away in my heart. Quick question… Do you know the size of a mechanical heart valve? Thanks, Jenny”

There are a few ways to answer Jenny’s question. On one hand, I could assemble a table which contains the different sizes of mechanical valves — by diameter and by surface area. However, I often think the cliche, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, is more appropriate. That said, a mechanical valve is about this big…

Pretty neat picture, right?

However, I thought Jenny might want to learn the actual dimensions of a mechanical valve replacement.

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