Patient Stories Blog
By Adam Pick
Guest Post: Lynn’s 5 Lessons Learned for Complex Mitral Valve Surgery
Written by: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: April 22, 2024
I’ve said it before and I look forward to saying it again…
New Video: Bono’s Heart Valve Success Story!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: March 21, 2024
If you didn’t know… Bono, U2’s lead singer, revealed in the first chapter of his book, Surrender, that he underwent a complex heart valve and aortic aneurysm surgery in 2016. It turns out that Dr. David Adams, a leading cardiac surgeon and friend of our community, performed Bono’s surgery.
In Uganda, I Am Thankful for Mohammed’s Life-Saving Surgery
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: November 23, 2023
I am happy to share that Mohammed, a courageous 14-year-old boy from Uganda who suffered from severe mitral valve regurgitation, just had successful heart surgery.
Susan Is Thankful for Her Three Sons, Dr. Frank, Rush University & Her Cow Valve Replacement
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: November 23, 2023
With Thanksgiving upon us, it was great to receive this note from Susan about her health, her three sons and her cow valve.
Julia Overcomes Aortic Stenosis & Healthcare Inequity Thanks to Medtronic TAVR
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate & Author
Published: September 18, 2023; This post is sponsored by Medtronic
Aortic stenosis is a life-threatening disease that is under-diagnosed and under-treated. In fact, the survival rate is just 50% at two years for patients diagnosed with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis. To make matters worse, only 3.4% of patients that receive non-invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) are Hispanic.
Michele Returns to Pickle Ball After Heart Valve Surgery!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: August 3, 2023
It’s my favorite part of running this website… Hearing from all the wonderful patients in our community! For example, I just received a fantastic email from Michele Marcus after our recent webinar.
Chemical Engineer, Ray, Gets Ozaki Procedure for Valvular Flow Dynamics
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: June 21, 2023
As a follow-up to our post, “Ozaki Procedure: New Research for Aortic Valve Patients”, I wanted to share the wonderful patient story of Ray Poole from New York. Ray is an aortic valve patient and chemical engineer who recently underwent the Ozaki Procedure.
Andy & David Transform Heart Surgery Into Brotherhood!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: May 17, 2023
The patient stories in our Community never cease to amaze and inspire me. For example, this is the story of Andy Dial and David Seligman.
Mitral Valve Awareness: Mara Dances Past Mitral Valve Surgery!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: April 13, 2023
It is downright wonderful to receive so many enthusiastic patient emails about “Mitral Valve Disease Awareness Week“.
Mitral Valve Awareness: A Stethoscope Led to Howard’s Life-Saving Surgery
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: April 11, 2023
Within minutes of announcing the launch of Mitral Valve Awareness Disease Week, my inbox started to receive great patient stories in response to this global initiative.
Amy’s Wonderfully Serendipitous Patient Success Story
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Medical Expert: Kevin Accola, MD, Cardiac Surgeon, AdventHealth, Orlando, Florida
Published: March 24, 2023
I could ramble-on about the serendipitous moment we just experienced at The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Conference in San Diego. Instead, I will simply encourage you to click the play button on the video below to see why Amy’s question about small incisions brought a huge smile to the faces of Dr. Kevin Accola and myself.
Janet Gets Successful Mitral Valve Repair Surgery!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: January 17, 2023
I love hearing patient success stories from our community!
Breaking News: U2’s Bono Reveals Life-Saving Heart Valve Surgery In New Book!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: November 30, 2022
U2 is my favorite rock band.
Ginny, Lisa & Randy Celebrate Their Fixed Hearts, Dr. Gillinov & Our Community!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: October 3, 2022
The patient stories in our community just keep getting better-and-better.
In Philippines, Lilian Gets “Second Chance At Life” After Double Mechanical Valve Replacement
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: September 12, 2022
The patient success stories in our community are downright wonderful. For example, I just received this inspirational email from Lilian Pena of the Philippines which reads:
Shared Decision Making: What Should Heart Valve Patients Know?
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: August 3, 2022
Given the lifetime challenges and opportunities associated with heart valve disease (e.g. valve replacement failure, heart valve reoperations, etc.), the idea of “shared decision making” among patients and their doctors has become one of the important topics in heart valve disease right now.
Deena Wins Our Summer Patient Giveaway!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: July 20, 2022
Thanks to all the wonderful patients in our community who entered our Summer Patient Giveaway!
Charlie Inspires 7,000 Likes At Our Facebook Page!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: June 16, 2022
Unbelievable!
With 4,000 Facebook Likes, Timothy’s Post-Op Picture Goes Viral!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: April 12, 2022
Our global community of patients, care partners, doctors, physician assistants, nurses, hospitals and medical companies is downright amazing!
After Emergency Surgery, Baby Alfred Gets “Second Chance” at Life!
Written By: Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder
Published: January 11, 2022
In November… Thanks to your extraordinary support, the patient community at HeartValveSurgery.com sponsored the cardiac surgery of Baby Alfred, a courageous 8-month old boy from Nigeria, who suffered from Tetralogy of Fallot, a life-threatening form of heart valve disease.
Upcoming Surgeries
sue burns
Mitral Regurgitation
May 2, 2024
meg oconnell
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
May 6, 2024
Lynne Anderson
Aortic Stenosis
May 6, 2024
