Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

One of the most common questions I get relates to the life expectancy of heart valve replacement devices. It’s a great question that fundamentally underlies a critical patient concern. That concern is the fear of a second cardiac surgery operation.

In prior blogs, I have written about the life expectancy of pig valves, cow valves and donor valves. Earlier today, I received an interesting email from Jason about the longevity of his Bjork-Shiley mechanical heart valve replacement. Here is what Jason had to say:

“Hi Adam - I just came across your website. I had my aortic valve replaced in 1982, at 29 years of age. I have just found out that I need surgery for an aortic aneurysm, I’m 55 now. I have a Bjork-Shiley mechanical valve. I asked my surgeon if he would be replacing the valve while he was in there, since it is now 26 years old. I was surprised to hear that he wouldn’t be, unless there were problems with it. Thanks. Jason”

For those of you who had not heard about this valve replacement type before:

• The Bjork-Shiley valve is a mechanical heart valve prosthesis. Beginning in 1971, the valve replacement device has been used to replace the aortic or mitral valves. This mechanical valve marks the first example of a successfully used tilting-disc valve. It was manufactured first by Shiley Inc., then later by Pfizer after that company purchased Shiley.
• The Bjork-Shiley heart valve was removed from the market as a result of safety concerns. The main concern was the risk of the outlet strut fracturing on the mechanical heart valve. The FDA created an expert panel to make recommendations by which patients should be recommended for prophylactic valve replacement.
• More than 40,000 Americans had the Bjork-Shiley heart valves implanted. After the recall, not all Bjork-Shiley valves were removed from patients (Jason’s included). Depending on the patient’s risks during the surgical removal process, approximately 86,000 defective valves were left in patients with weak or defective heart valves.

I hope that explains a little more about the Bjork-Shiley heart valve replacement device.

Keep on tickin!

Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.

According to the Buffalo News… It is now official: Teppo Numminen will be back with the Buffalo Sabres next season following a heart valve repair surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

The 40-year-old NHL veteran has signed a one-year, $1.1-million contract, the team announced Friday. Numminen, who missed all but the season finale last year after heart surgery, has no recurring health problems and will be ready for hockey training camp next month.

Numminen had heart valve repair surgery in September, 2007 and did return to the NHL until getting sixteen minutes of ice-time April 5 at Boston. After that game and in the days following the season, he said he was interested in continuing his career. An unrestricted free agent, Numminen’s first choice was to return to the Sabres.

Teppo is back home in his native Finland and was not available for comment Friday. He had signed a one-year, $2.6-million deal with the team last summer and then filed a grievance with the National Hockey League Players’ Association to reclaim that money after the Sabres placed him on the suspended list.

Darcy Regier, the Sabres General Manager, said Numminen’s health is no longer an issue.

“He feels good, he feels strong,” Regier said. “There’s always routine checkups but the Cleveland Clinic [where the surgery was performed], our doctors, our medical and training staffs all feel he’s 100 percent.”

Way to go Teppo!!!

Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.

There is A LOT of encouraging news about minimally invasive procedures for heart valve replacement and heart valve repair. With shorter recovery time and less pain due to smaller (or no) incisions, the advantages of non-invasive procedures are being praised my many.

That said, I just found this very interesting video of Joseph Riley. At eighty-eight years old, Riley was suffering from a narrow aortic valve (stenosis) which was causing shortness of breath, weight loss and other heart valve disease symptoms. Joe’s situation was so bad, he was forced to use an oxygen machine. His doctors at Massachusetts General informed Joe that he desperately needed an aortic valve replacement operation and suggested he be part of a clinical trial for Edwards Lifesciencies’ new Sapien valve.

On June 25, 2008, Joe became the first patient to receive the Edwards Sapien Aortic Valve using a catheter-based approach in New England. Now, Joe is feeling better and breathing well.

Joe said in an interview, “I’m feeling five years younger… I’m climbing stairs without any puffing!” To watch Joe’s video, please click the image above or click this link, Joseph Riley Receives Edwards Sapien Aortic Valve.

FYI, Massachusetts General is the only site in New England in the Edwards valves clinical trial (which will last another year and a half). However, the new, minimally invasive heart procedure is being tested at 25 medical centers across the United States and five international centers.

Keep on tickin!

Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.

There is nothing better than hearing from one of my readers AFTER their open-heart surgery recovery is complete.

Recently, I received a very nice note from Melissa Causey. As you might remember, Melissa had a Ross Procedure (aortic valve replacement) in 2006 by Dr. William Ryan in Texas. She attached a recent picture that I have posted below.

FYI, here is a picture of Melissa just three days after her Ross Procedure in the hospital.

Melissa writes to me, “Dear Adam - I’m now 11 months post-op from my Ross Procedure and feeling great! My Uncle Ted gave me your book a month before my surgery, and it is one of the best gifts I could have ever received. Your book really helped to prepare me as well as my family for my surgery and recovery. After reading your book, I was also able to communicate more effectively with my surgeon and cardiologist.”

Thanks so much for sharing Melissa! I really appreciate it!

Keep on tickin!

Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.

You just don’t know how good you have it until life offers you a great, big piece of Humble Pie, right?

I know that’s how I felt following my double heart valve replacement. After the cardiac depression… After the pain… After the fear of needing a re-operation… I was so thankful for everyone and everything around me. My friends and family, in particular, rallied around me like guardian angels. They lifted me up with encouragement, support and lots of good love.

You should know that this feeling of “thankfulness” is common among heart valve patients. To prove it, I recently surveyed 78 patients about their feelings towards their heart valve repair or valve replacement operations. Guess what? The majority responded that heart valve surgery had a “positive impact” on their lives.

As you may have read in a prior blog, Jim Lehrer, PBS broadcaster, recently had aortic valve replacement surgery. The trusted anchor of “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer” recently returned to his television.

During the closing of a recent show, Lehrer offered the audience his own, personal take on the outcome of his heart surgery.

“Before we go tonight, a few personal words, if I may. Mostly, there are just two words: Thank you. Thank you for the messages of concern and encouragement the last two months. I wanted to respond personally to each, but there were just too many, thousands of them, and still counting. I read every one of them. They mattered very much to me. There is no mystery about what happened. The aortic valve in my heart went bad and it was replaced, skillfully and perfectly. I will be easing back to work a couple or so days a week at a time, so please don’t think anything’s gone wrong again when I turn up missing. For the record, one of my doctors said a valve procedure like mine is known to make a person feel and act 10 years younger, so stay tuned.”

Well said Jim!

Keep on tickin!

Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery, a unique book which integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of an actual heart valve surgery patient. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.

Robyn (my wife) will tell that I don’t really like to use cliches.

But, if there is one thing I have learned since my heart valve replacement surgery, it is that “there are no guarantees in life”.

Yes. I did just use a cliche. But, it is sooooooo appropriate to heart valve surgery. As you may already know, there are risks, there are uncertainties and there are complications that are undeniably associated with cardiac surgery.

As we have already seen (in patient stories from Leslie Lafayette or Brad Mueller), “there are no guarantees in heart surgery”.

Recently, I received an interesting email from Brian, which emulates the twists-and-turns of heart surgery. I thought you might like to hear Brian’s story. So, with his approval, I have posted his thoughts below.

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