Adam’s Heart Valve Surgery Blog

I’m currently traveling through Europe for work. Right now, I’m on a train going from Eindhoven to Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Yes, it’s cold. But, not as cold as Helsinki, Finland where it was freeeeeezing.

Luckily, I have a few moments to read personal emails. One of those emails was from Mark Linnus, a 46 year-old patient from New York who was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse and severe regurgitation. Over the past year, I have corresponded with Mark about his upcoming valve surgery. In particular, much of our exchange focused on surgeon selection.

Well… Mark has good news to report. Here is what he wrote to me:

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Some may call David’s story ironic. I call it fantastic! That said, I thought you might find this very unique story of interest. Here is what David wrote to me:

Hi Adam,

I just had my calcified aortic bicuspid valve replaced with an Edwards Lifesciences pericardial (bovine) valve on October 28, 2009. I also had a single mammary bypass for a calcified lesion in my LAD coronary artery. I am 69 years old. I think I have a little different perspective on all this as I worked for and retired from Edwards Lifesciences, the world’s largest heart valve manufacturer, after 33 years employment.

David Swendson With Dr. Bethencourt - Discharge Day!

I was a product development engineer starting work at Edwards in 1965 when it was a very small company. I worked on the earlier Starr-Edwards prosthetic heart valves and later, on all sorts of other heart related products.

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Kelly just sent me this very insightful patient story which touches on several critical factors specific to heart valve surgery from the patient perspective. That said, I thought you might want to learn about Kelly and her surgeon, Dr. Kevin Miller. Here is what Kelly wrote to me:

Kelly Gaul - Heart Valve Replacement Patient

Hi Adam,

It’s been about 7 or 8 months since I first found your web site, ordered your book and touched base with you.  I am a 56-year old woman who leads a very active lifestyle - hiking, backpacking, and cross-country skiing.  I knew I had a heart murmur since I was 25 years old, but didn’t realize it was a bicuspid valve accompanied by aortic stenosis until about 7 years ago (mild-moderate at the time).

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As we have seen through the inspiring stories of Teppo Numminen (NHL hockey star) and Aaron Boone (MLB baseball star), several athletes have returned to professional sports after heart valve surgery.

Here is a great story about competitive cyclist, Michael Gnatek. At 43 years of age, Michael required mitral valve repair surgery due to a mitral valve prolapse. To treat his leaky heart valve, which caused a life-long heart murmur, Dr. Paul Massimiano from Inova Health System in Virginia used a minimally invasive approach.

One of the most amazing elements of Michael’s story is how quickly he was discharged from the hospital…. One day! However, please remember, each patient case is unique. As my research suggests, the average patient stay in the hospital is about five days.

Patient Days In Hospital Following Valve Surgery

I  hope you enjoyed this video about Michael Gnatek and Dr. Paul Massimiano.

Keep on tickin!

P.S. Would you like to celebrate your surgeon? Now, you can join over 450 patients who have shared their surgical experiences at our new Heart Valve Surgeon Database. Click here to learn more.

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 the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 78 former valve surgery patients to help patients and 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.