My inbox just received an email that I can relate too.

The email reads, “Adam, What are the symptoms of bacterial endocarditis? Is chest pain a symptom of endocarditis?”

Before I dive straight into the answer, you should know that I was initially diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve as a little boy. I think I was five years old when I learned about my heart murmur.

From that moment on, I had to pre-medicate every time I saw the dentist. My mom told me it was very, very, very important to take medication every time I went for a cleaning or a cavity filling.

Now, I don’t like the dentist to begin with… So, this just added to my resistance.

At the time, I had no idea that my parents and dentist were protecting me from the problems of bacterial endocarditis. For those of you who don’t know, bacterial endocarditis is an infection of the heart’s inner lining (endocardium) or the heart valves. Problems of bacterial endocarditis can damage or even destroy your heart valves.

According to the American Heart Association, there are about 29,000 cases of endocarditis diagnosed a year.

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Ready to scratch your head?

Okay… Here’s the question.

“What is the average cost of aortic valve surgery?”

If you know the answer, feel free to skip this blog. But, if you are curious to know about aortic valve replacement costs, please keep reading.

So you know… When I began preparing for my heart valve replacement surgery in 2005, my perspective on money instantly changed.

Following my diagnosis (aortic stenosis and aortic regurgitation), there were no longer any thoughts about the future value of money – including retirement.

Instead, I started thinking about the now. THE RIGHT NOW! I remember thinking, “I don’t care what it costs, I want to find the best heart surgeon to operate on me.”

After my surgery, I began researching many topics to include in my book, The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. One of those topics was the costs of heart valve surgery including aortic valve replacement costs.

Guess what I found? Very little.

Although frustrating, I continued my search to find the average cost of aortic valve surgery. My tenacity paid off and data began to appear on the topic of aortic valve replacement costs.

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Question Topic: PISA Mitral Regurgitation

Let’s all remember that I am heart valve surgery patient. I am not a cardiologist or a cardiac surgeon. That said, every once and a while I get emails about topics that are very technical, very scientific and very tough for me to answer.

Guess what? That’s great!!!! I love it. I like learning about all the different elements of heart surgery.

One of the more technical questions that arrived in my inbox was about PISA mitral regurgitation. “What the heck is that?” you may be wondering. Well, let me explain as best I can.

There are many diagnostic processes to determine the severity of mitral valve regurgitation. A doctor can review the patient’s symptoms or the doctor can utilize a series of tests to diagnose mitral regurgitation. Electrocardiograms, x-rays, and echocardiograms are popular tests used to determine the problems of bloodflow through the heart valves.

FYI, I had two echocardiograms to confirm my need for aortic valve replacement. (Pssst! Please. Please. Don’t forget to get a second opinion – click here to find out why!!!)

Now for the scientific stuff about PISA mitral regurgitation:

The degree of severity of mitral regurgitation can be quantified by the percentage of the left ventricular stroke volume that regurgitates into the left atrium (also known as the regurgitant fraction).

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Hey everybody,

When it comes to a successful open heart surgery recovery program, cardiac rehab exercise is critical. Although your cardiologist and surgeon may have a cardiac rehab program already lined up for you post-operation, you may want to find your own cardiac rehab center.

“Why do I care so much about helping you find the right cardiac recovery program?”

Well, after my surgery… Neither my surgeon or cardiologist suggested a cardiac rehab exercise program for me. At eight weeks after my open heart surgery, the result of not attending a cardiac rehab center was devastating. My upper chest was a mess. Specifically, my incision area was incredibly sore and my physical confidence was gone.

I think because I was on the younger side of open heart surgery patients (33 years old), my doctors felt I would “snap-back” into shape. That was a faulty assumption in my case. (FYI, I learned a lot about this while doing research for my book. In actuality, only 49% of patients register and attend cardiac rehab programs during their recovery. In my opinion, cardiac rehab exercise is a must for an efficient and healthy recovery from open heart surgery.)

Anyways, my mom and I located a cardiac rehab progam after consulting with a pain management specialist.

Adam At Torrance Memorial Cardiac Rehab Program

Not only will a good cardiac rehab program stimulate your healing, the mental benefits of spending time with other cardiac surgery patients is very inviting, supportive and… FUN! My cardiac rehab center was at Torrance Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. The cardiac rehab center was a phenomenal facility with very supportive cardiac nurses and over 100, recovering heart patients.

Some of the patients had angioplasty, some patients had heart valve repair and some patients had heart valve replacements. Sharing stories and learning from each other at the cardiac rehab center was a phenomenal experience.

I highly suggest you put “FINDING A CARDIAC REHAB PROGRAM” at the top of your to-do list for your open heart surgery recovery. Let me know if you need any help finding a cardiac rehab center near you.

Keep on tickin!

Topics Covered: Information on Heart Valve Surgeons; Survey of 78 Former Heart Valve Surgery Patients Shares Insight on Open Heart Surgeons; List of Top Heart Valve Surgeons and Hospitals

Our lives are full of choices. Some of those choices are life-changing, “Who will I marry?”. Some of those choices are mundane, “Should I take out the smelly trash now or later?” Some choices are downright fun, “Should I play hooky from work and enjoy a beautiful, summer day?”

With that soft prelude into this topic, I’ll let all of you know the obvious… The choice of heart valve surgeon falls smack-dab in the life-changing category. Picking the right heart valve surgeon is a critical choice that can dramatically impact your life – for the better or for the worse.

So you know, I am completely recovered from aortic and pulmonary valve replacements. I’m even back SCUBA diving and surfing. However, over the past 20 months, I have spent many hours researching the topic of heart valve surgery to help future patients and caregivers better understand the realities of cardiac surgery. (I wrote the book, The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery as a result of that research.) Anyways, as most former patients know, there are “ups” and “downs” during this long process. Like most patients, I had my fair share of both of those ups and downs.

One of the biggest “downs” I learned about during my research was revealed to me by patients who said they failed to locate and use the right heart valve surgeon. It has been quite touching to hear their stories of heart valve surgeons who either (i) failed to successfully repair / replace a valve or (ii) maintained a poor bedside manner.

Most of these patients felt that information on heart surgeons was hard to come by. And, many of these patients were in emergency situations in which they were unable to select the heart valve surgeon of their choice.

As for me… During my diagnosis, both my first- and second-opinion cardiologists suggested that I wait no longer than 30 days to have heart valve replacement surgery. While I was in no immediate danger from my leaky valve, my heart was starting to dilate. FYI, my valve was calcified and suffered from stenosis / regurgitation.

That said, my family and I began a Herculean effort to find the best heart surgeon. We spoke with cardiothoracic surgeons from all over the country. We were looking for the best heart surgeon and we found a few, well-qualified heart valve surgeons that could have performed my Ross Procedure (aortic valve replacement). I called this list of heart valve surgeons my “short-list”.

From that short-list, I selected Dr. Vaughn Starnes from USC Medical Center in Los Angeles. It was rather convenient considering I live in Los Angeles. Looking back on it, Dr. Starnes maintained all the elements I was looking for in a heart valve surgeon. The man is a heart valve guru plus Dr. Starnes has a very positive, very personal manner that many physicians just don’t have.

Back to bedside manner for a moment… I mentioned earlier that some patients told me their biggest problem with heart valve surgeons was bedside manner. To learn more about this, I performed an online survey of 78 former patients to better understand this issue. As you can see below, the results are very interesting! More than 62% of former heart valve surgery patients said that their heart valve surgeon had a bedside manner that was scored as “excellent”.

I hope the information above was helpful and that your search for the right heart valve surgeon is quick and easy!!!

Keep on tickin,

Adam