A few months ago, I received a phone call from Denise Ring, a patient suffering from severe mitral regurgitation. From the moment we spoke, I sensed Denise’s nerves, her anxiety and her fear given prior health challenges. Over the next few weeks, we corresponded by phone and by email leading right up to her surgery.

Good news! Two weeks after surgery, I received an inspirational voice-mail from Denise. I have to admit, I did not recognize Denise’s voice. Her energy and her positive outlook in the message was overwhelming. As she exclaimed during the message, “I can’t believe it. Surgery went great. I’m starting to feel like the old me.”

Denise Ring – Mitral Valve Repair Patient

I would later receive this email from Denise:

Dear Adam –

I’m feeling fantastic! Dr. Accola performed a mitral valve repair for me only 12 short weeks ago. This amazing surgeon is a truly gifted man. He is not only highly skilled but also sincerely concerned about the well-being of his patients. I was actually caught off guard by his compassion and calm but confident demeanor.

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As many of you know… I’m a technology enthusiast. In fact, I’m often referred to as a “tech geek” by my friends — always playing around with the latest gadgets and software.

Specific to heart valve treatment, my interest in medical technology is similarly high. Today, much of the tech-excitement is centered on transcatheter, sutureless and leaflet exchange technology. However, I’m still fascinated by the utility of robotic devices for procedures including mitral valve repair procedures.

Da Vinci Surgical Robot

That said, I just saw an amazing video created by Dr. Charles Anderson, a cardiac surgeon and robotic specialist from MultiCare Healthcare System in Tacoma, Washington.  In this video, Dr. Anderson uses the Da Vinci Surgical Robot to paint a miniature Van Gogh… You gotta see this to believe it.

So, I guess if you need a robotic mitral valve repair or an impressive van Gogh look-alike… Dr. Anderson is your man.

To see Dr. Anderson perform a mitral valve repair using the Da Vinci robot, please click here.

Keep on tickin!

Thanks to all of you who continue to ask for the latest Ethan update!

As you can see, our little 2-year old, is getting ready for football season. Like his dad, Ethan is a Michigan Wolverine fan. He already has the “Go Blue!” fist pump ready for the opener next Saturday.

Ethan Pick Readies For Football Saturday

But, in all seriousness, Ethan is thriving. He’s talking non-stop and going through the early stages of… potty training! Robyn, my wife, and I are exhausted. However, we are having the time of our lives watching him grow up.

Keep on tickin!

I just received a very interesting question from Jake about chest pain, sternum wires and heart valve surgery.

Jake writes to me, “Dear Adam – It’s been 2 years since my aortic valve replacement. While my heart is doing great, I still have a very sensitive incision. There are spots along my sternum that, if I press on, cause a shot of pain. My chest also hurts if I twist in odd ways. Is it possible that the sternum wires are causing this discomfort. If so, can I get them taken out? Is that a big procedure? Thanks! Jake”

Xray of Sternum Wires After Open Heart Surgery

While I have my own thoughts on this topic, I wanted to provide Jake an expert opinion. That said, I contacted Dr. Lishan Aklog, the Chief of Cardiovascualr Surgery at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, to learn more.

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Hi everybody,

Like always, I’m doing my best to improve your experience and use of this website. Thanks to your suggestions, I just posted a new website theme that we are testing. (You may have noticed a new look-and-feel to the this blog and the other sections of the website.)

If you are curious, here is what we hope to accomplish with the new theme.

• Integrated Navigation. One of the challenges with our old theme was… navigation. There was no easy way to click from one section (e.g. the Heart Valve Surgeon Locator) of the website to the next section (e.g. Heart Valve Journals). Now, as shown below, you can see that we implemented a global navigation — so you can jump from the blog to the Heart Valve Surgeon Locator to Heart Valve Journals with a few simple clicks.

• New Videos Section. Our “Surgeon Q&A Videos” continue to receive extraordinary feedback. So, we created a special YouTube channel and embedded it right into our website. Already, we have over 15,000 views! Click here to see our videos or you can always click the YouTube icon above.

• Website Search (Beta). Another request we received from patients and caregivers was specific to search. There are over 4,000 pages of content on this website. But, there was no way to search all of that information. To help you, we created a special search function in the top navigation. (Please note, we’re still enhancing this function. Although it’s working well, I still consider it to be in “beta” mode.)

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