Patient Stories Blog – Page 2

How good can life be 10 years after successful heart valve surgery by Dr. Robert Saeid Farivar?

Are you planning to travel this spring or summer? If you are a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) recipient, don't be alarmed if you unexpectedly set off the airport security system.

I've said it before and I look forward to saying it again... The patient success stories from the courageous members in our community are downright extraordinary.

It's been less than 24 hours since Rick Jerzak's transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and I just received this update from him.

It is amazing to see the physical, emotional and spiritual transformation that occurs in patients before-and-after heart valve surgery. For example, here is the patient story of Suzi Epstein, an asymptomatic patient who was unexpectedly diagnosed with severe mitral regurgitation.

I never imagined this... But, thank the heavens for the fun and humor of patients in our online support community.

Hearing from patients in our Community about their heart valve surgery success stories remains one of my favorite parts of running this website. This time, I heard from Lisa Letizio after her heart valve surgery.

I just received a great patient story from David Monasterski who is a new member of our community. After connecting with David at our YouTube Channel, he shared a very insightful story with me about bacterial endocarditis, aortic valve leaflet holes, the importance of second opinions, his weight loss journey and more.

I am incredibly happy to share that... Thanks to the support of this community and our amazing partner, Gift of Life International, we just helped Nsimire, a courageous 8-year old girl, undergo a life-saving cardiac procedure in Uganda!!!

The patients in our heart valve community never cease to amaze me. I could ramble on about what I just received in my inbox from Cuauhtemoc Velazquez, a patient from Toronto, Canada. Instead, I will simply provide you this wonderful opportunity to watch an extraordinary video that Cuauhtemoc shared with me titled, "10 Spiritual Lessons I Learned From Heart Surgery".

Since starting HeartValveSurgery.com nearly twenty years ago, I have learned a lot about the heart. However, it was not until I received this email from David Cattell, a heart valve patient in our community, that I became aware of an under-diagnosed condition known as cardiac amyloidosis. Many thanks to David for sharing his story and his research below.

Wonderful news!!!

Henrik Lundqvist, the NHL superstar goalie of the New York Rangers, is doing an extraordinary job raising awareness to heart valve disease and aortic aneurysms.

Hearing from patients about their heart valve success stories is my favorite part of running the HeartValveSurgery.com community.

I've said it before and I look forward to saying it again...

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.

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.

With Thanksgiving upon us, it was great to receive this note from Susan about her health, her three sons and her cow valve.

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.

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.