I was able to complete my half-marathon trail run today with my brothers and uncle today! 366 days post Ross procedure at Keck medicine of USC. My heart felt strong while the rest of my body is feeling a bit exhausted. A bit of a sore/injured knee but grateful I was able to get it done. The event was the Old West Trail Run just outside Julian California.
Daneen Douglas Thatās amazing! What an accomplishment!
Allen Carkner Thank you everyone! It has been a lot of little consistent work to get this done. I wouldnāt have d ... Read more
Allen Carkner Thank you everyone! It has been a lot of little consistent work to get this done. I wouldnāt have done it if it hadnāt been for my two brothers encouraging me along the way. They ran with me the whole time despite being able to finish much faster than me.
Sue Maize Awww, thatās a win right there!! And is that a tattoo of a RP on your leg perchance? š
Allen Carkner It sure is! Itās an approximation of how my surgeon typically performs his Ross procedures integrat ... Read more
Allen Carkner It sure is! Itās an approximation of how my surgeon typically performs his Ross procedures integrated with an old textbook heart diagram.
Sue Maize Looks amazing!! Iād love to get a tatt to commemorate my OHS somehow, maybe not a whole Ross proced ... Read more
Sue Maize Looks amazing!! Iād love to get a tatt to commemorate my OHS somehow, maybe not a whole Ross procedure, but itās great that we can! Did you clear it first with your cardiologist?
Leslie Prebyl Allen- Congratulations on the run. My son Drake and I traveled to Mount Sinai in NYC in September of 2022 so he could have the Ross Procedure done. Dr. El-Hamamsy was his surgeon. He was 22 at the time and had just graduated from college and started his career. He too had an aortic stenosis/bicuspid valve, but never had any symptoms or restrictions placed upon him growing up. He did have angioplasty at 14 which bought him some time. He is an active bicyclist and was back up and riding 8 weeks after the surgery. Since he is so active and young, that is why we chose the Ross. I didn't want him to have to deal with blood thinners and all that comes with that. Thankfully, he hasn't had any issues since the surgery. Every so often he will have pain up his back and shoulders and find it painful to take deep breaths. The doctor has no idea why. He takes Advil and uses the heating pad and it goes away. Very strange. He is still on BP medicine because his cardiologist thinks it is protective for the aortic arch. We are trying to set up a meeting with the surgeon for his opinion. I suspect in June when Drake has his next echo and EKG, he will elect to go off of the medication and see what happens over the next 6 months. I admittedly haven't been on the website much since Drake's surgery, so I wasn't aware of your story until I saw it highlighted in the newsletter. I am so glad things are going well for you. Out of curiosity, do your brothers have a bicuspid valve issue? My other son who is 20 has it, but it is very mild. It is only detectable on the echo. He might be lucky and never need any intervention as he gets older. I need to show Drake the picture of your tattoo. It is amazing! Take care--- Leslie Prebyl
Leslie Prebyl Allen- Congratulations on the run. My son Drake and I traveled to Mount Sinai in NYC in September of 2022 so he could have the Ross Procedure done. Dr. El-Hamamsy was his surgeon. He was 22 at the time and had just graduated from college and started his career. He too had an aortic stenosis/bicuspid valve, but never had any symptoms or restrictions placed upon him growing up. He did have angioplasty at 14 which bought him some time. He is an active bicyclist and was back up and riding 8 weeks after the surgery. Since he is so active and young, that is why we chose the Ross. I didn't want him to have to deal with blood thinners and all that comes with that. Thankfully, he hasn't had any issues since the surgery. Every so often he will have pain up his back and shoulders and find it painful to take deep breaths. The doctor has no idea why. He takes Advil and uses the heating pad and it goes away. Very strange. He is still on BP medicine because his cardiologist thinks it is protective for the aortic arch. We are trying to set up a meeting with the surgeon for his opinion. I suspect in June when Drake has his next echo and EKG, he will elect to go off of the medication and see what happens over the next 6 months. I admittedly haven't been on the website much since Drake's surgery, so I wasn't aware of your story until I saw it highlighted in the newsletter. I am so glad things are going well for you. Out of curiosity, do your brothers have a bicuspid valve issue? My other son who is 20 has it, but it is very mild. It is only detectable on the echo. He might be lucky and never need any intervention as he gets older. I need to show Drake the picture of your tattoo. It is amazing! Take care--- Leslie Prebyl
First running event post op! 5k post-op record 10:25/mile pace! So grateful to be able to push my body a little bit now that my heart is more efficient post Ross procedure!
Sue Maize WooHoo!!! You go heart brother!! Wonderful news, and just a tad envious of that beautiful warm sunny ... Read more
Sue Maize WooHoo!!! You go heart brother!! Wonderful news, and just a tad envious of that beautiful warm sunny sky in the background! š
Allen Carkner Thanks everyone! Figuring out the āidealā training/ running intensity has been one of the harder ... Read more
Allen Carkner Thanks everyone! Figuring out the āidealā training/ running intensity has been one of the harder things to navigate my whole life, before and after valve replacement. I certainly pushed it a bit harder before surgery than some would have advised. I want to toe the line and optimize my training for longevity while also trying to not wear out my valves from too much intensity. Itās something I always have on my mind. There has got to be an ideal fitness type for those of us with valve replacement's. I want my heart to be efficient and my muscles strong but I also donāt want to expedite the wear of my donor pulmonary valve. Thoughts are welcome. Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I feel lucky to be able to do what I can do but I also fear about going to hard or not hard enough.
Sue Lee Great news and sounds very sensible and successful
John Hannon Way to go Allen, keep it up! I've asked quite a few times about overdoing it and not been told to li ... Read more
John Hannon Way to go Allen, keep it up! I've asked quite a few times about overdoing it and not been told to limit things at all. I'm not able to get my heart rate up to where the calculations say would be my max, even when I go all out. The biggest risk I was warned of is that I might hurt my shoulder from lifting - in my chest x-ray they could see my shoulder also and there is some joint wear in there I guess, probably from swimming.
Christmas gift for myself. Worked with an artist to try to closely match the wrapped Ross procedure that I had at Keck Medicine of USC in March by Dr Starnes. I feel very grateful for my surgery and avoiding anticoagulants at this period of my life.
Rose Madura Wow, I'm not a tattoo person but it is very cool! š
Richard Munson And i thought my oldsmobile tattoo was unique.
Adam Pick Wow! Double Wow! Triple Wow! Did you send this Dr. Starnes? That is amazing!!!
Allen Carkner I will share with Starnes. I worked hard with my artist showing surgical images and many diagrams to ... Read more
Allen Carkner I will share with Starnes. I worked hard with my artist showing surgical images and many diagrams to get the surgery details as close as I could.
Dave Walters Very cool, I had a few more tattoos to get but now with the Warfarin it seems like those days are don ... Read more
Dave Walters Very cool, I had a few more tattoos to get but now with the Warfarin it seems like those days are done. Unless they come out with somethingā¦
Throwback to March 2023 Ross procedure at Keck medicine of USC. Dr. Vaughn Starnes seems to make heart surgery look easy I hear. I was just given permission by my cardiologist to train for a run in March 2024. Grateful for my new valves!
Deena Elani Love it, Allen. Going for a run/race on your one year anniversary! Nice way to celebrate.
Sharon Behl Way to go, Allen! A good reminder to set goals and to keep them really individual. For me, today, le... Read more
Sharon Behl Way to go, Allen! A good reminder to set goals and to keep them really individual. For me, today, less than one day post hospital discharge, I will take my meds, finish my coffee, take a shower, get dressed and enjoy take-out lunch with visiting family. Maybe a game of Scrabble. I wanted to go to Rockefeller Center to see the tree, but have to listen to today's message from my body, "no long car rides, no crowds, no stress." Ugh...patience is a virtue, though...right?
Deena Elani Sharon, I love how well you think through your days to make them as enjoyable as possible. WTG.
Allen Carkner I totally agree Sharon. I certainly will be taking my training slow and steady.
Started jogging a bit at rehab about two weeks ago only slightly faster than my walking pace. Super excited that I just did three minutes at speed 6mph as part of some walk/run intervals and it felt great! I finally feel more like myself. I'm going into my 11th week starting Wednesday post Ross aortic valve replacement. Thank you everyone for being on here! This stuff can be challenging sometimes. I love hearing from everyone including wins and challenges. š
Andrew Dial Thatās great man! Youāre doing awesome.
Susan Lynn You're doing great, Allen! Best of luck with the remainder of your recovery!
Sue Lee Jogging at 11 weeks is impressive. Well done
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