Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog – Page 14

As Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher, once said, “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality.”

Unfortunately, COVID-19 is now our unexpected reality.  At times, that is hard to accept.  At times, it’s challenging not to think back to the way it was.  At times, I wonder if Lao Tzu lived through a pandemic.  Regardless, we must move forward. We must evolve.

Patient Being Examined During COVID-19 (Northwestern Medicine)

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Thanks to the wonderful support of patients, their family members and friends, I am happy to report that HeartValveSurgery.com achieved the #2 ranking in FeedSpot’s 2020 Top Heart Blogs & Websites.  

This is such an extraordinary honor considering all the great cardiac websites out there!

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In this Proud Papa Moment, I am happy to share that Ethan, my 11-year old son, who many of you have come to know over the years… Is graduating from elementary school!!!!!

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He was short of breath.  He could not walk up stairs.  He was afraid.  Then, Edward Clinton ended up in the emergency room.

Ed suffered from mitral regurgitation, a leaking heart valve, and atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm.  To get help, Ed met with Dr. Patrick McCarthy, a leading cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  Dr. McCarthy recommended a “concomitant” procedure to help Ed.  During a concomitant procedure, Dr. McCarthy would treat Ed’s leaking mitral valve and the AFib in one operation.

This is Ed’s story…

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Thanks to the AMAZING patients in our community!!!!

Because of you, I am happy to report that over 3,000 patients completed the Heart Valve Patient Survey during the last four days.

This community of wonderful people continues to inspire me as we share our experiences, support each other and help future patients along our collective journey to healthy hearts

Again, thank you!!!

Keep on tickin!

Adam

[April 30, 2020 Update:  Thanks to the wonderful patients at this community, we collected over 3,000 survey responses in four days.  Please stay tuned for the posting of results to this survey.  You can subscribe to my blog to get the results here.]

Hi Patients!

Can I ask you a quick favor?  To help future patients, I want to learn more about the heart valve disease experiences of people like you.  That said, I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts!

In advance, thanks so much for your help on this survey!

I really appreciate it!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

I love when patients in our community send me their success stories.  For example, Frank Collura just brought a smile to my face.  Here’s what Frank emailed me:

About 5 years ago, I had my aortic valve replaced with a pig valve. I was 78 years old.  At the time of surgery, I was playing full-court basketball with a middle-aged group of guys at my church.  I had been playing with them for about 10 years, 3 times a week.  I was very upset at the prospect of not being able to play competitive basketball after heart surgery.

Frank Collura (Aortic Valve Replacement Patient)

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I just received two excellent questions about sternum wires and heart surgery from Kelly and Bob.

• Kelly asked me, “Can sternum wires cause issues with other medical procedures? I am attempting to get an MRI and the technician is concerned about the metal in my body.”
• Bob asked me, “It’s one year after surgery. I still have pain in my chest. It hurts constantly. I want to have the wires taken out. Is that possible? If so, what’s involved?”

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This is wonderful and a bit unexpected!

Yesterday, I featured Mike Czaplewski’s post in our email newsletter.  As you will see below, Mike is struggling with an early failure of his aortic valve replacement and sternum pain. In his post, Mike asked for help and support from the members of our community.

Mike Czaplewski & Dr. Marc Gerdisch

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Big news!

I am happy to report that Abbott, a leading manufacturer of heart valve replacement and repair devices, has developed a new, rapid molecular test that can detect COVID-19 in just 5 minutes.  Yes, just 5 minutes!!!

This is a HUGE improvement compared to other coronavirus tests that can take several days to get positive or negative results.

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Dear Patients & Friends,

During this very difficult and very challenging time, I wanted to ensure that you knew about the new educational resources for COVID-19 here at HeartValveSurgery.com.

Below are links to new educational resources and patient stories that I hope will further your understanding during this pandemic:

• Surgeon Q&A: COVID Vaccines & Heart Valve Surgery
• Free eBook: Advances in COVID-19 & Heart Valve Therapy
• A Safe “New Normal” for Cardiac Surgery Appointments
• Patient Alert! Is Heart Valve Surgery Safe During COVID?
• 20 Facts About Coronavirus, COVID-19 & Heart Valve Disease
• Doctor Q&A: COVID-19: How Is It Treated?
• 5 Reasons for Social Distancing During Pandemics
• Patient Story:  John & Larry Inspire Us In Difficult Times
• Video Interview: Dr. Stewart’s Advice for Heart Surgery Patient during COVID-19 Crisis
• Video Interview: Is Heart Surgery “Elective” During Coronavirus Outbreak
• COVID-19 Will Not Break Dr. Craig Smith & NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
• Doctor Q&A: What Should You Know About the COVID-19 Blood Shortage?

My thoughts and prayers are with you and all those around you!!!

Stay safe!!
Adam

As the COVID-19 pandemic surges past 921,000 worldwide cases, I need to thank Medtronic for doubling its ventilator production to help patients suffering from the novel coronavirus.

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During these challenging times of uncertainty, confusion and disbelief caused by COVID-19, I was lucky to just experience an unexpected and inspirational moment thanks to John Roland and Larry Manshel.

John Roland & Larry Manshel (Heart Valve Patients)

 
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If you are curious to know what leading heart surgeons are saying about COVID-19, you may want to watch this insightful video series, “COVID-19: An International Perspective”.

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I’m not a “doomsdayer”.  I’m not a pessimist.  And, I’m not a hoarder.

However… Since last Thursday, Robyn (my wife), Ethan (my son), and I have done our best to stay home as much as possible.

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March 16, 2020 Webinar Update: Given the recent developments specific to COVID-19, we will need to postpone our webinar, “Advances in Bicuspid Aortic Valve Therapy” that was scheduled for this Wednesday, March 18.  I will send you a follow-up email with the new day and time once I know those details.

Great news!

I’m happy to announce that our LIVE and FREE patient education events will continue next Wednesday, March 18, with a special “Advances in Bicuspid Aortic Valve Treatment” webinar.  Featured speakers include Dr. Chris Malaisrie, cardiac surgeon and co-director of the Bicuspid Aortic Valve Program at Northwestern Medicine, and Dr. Jyothy Puthumana, cardiologist and co-director of the Bicuspid Aortic Valve Program at Northwestern Medicine.

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Over the past few weeks, I have received several important questions about coronavirus, COVID-19 and heart valve disease.  For that reason, I just started a new educational resource dedicated to the coronavirus at this link.

Considering that we are learning more-and-more about COVID-19 every day, my hope is that this new resource will be continually updated with answers to your questions by leading doctors who specialize in infection control, cardiology and heart surgery.  Ultimately, the goal of this page is to educate and empower you specific to the management and treatment of heart valve disease given the spread of COVID-19.

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My heart warms anytime the patients in our community connect in person.  I love seeing their smiling faces.  I love seeing their hugs.  I love knowing that their friendships continue into the future as their valve disease fades to the past.

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Amazing!  Double Amazing!  Triple Amazing!

I am happy to report that the HeartValveSurgery.com community united and rallied like never before on National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day.  Thanks to your 5,000+ social media shares of this public service announcement, we reached over 596,000 people in just twenty-four hours last Saturday.

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Woo-Whoo!!! Today is National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day! Let’s join together to raise awareness to this under-diagnosed, under-treated and deadly form of heart disease!!!

To get started… Here are several amazing men and women in our community who have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of healthy heart valves.

Dr. Ismail El-Hamamsy (Mount Sinai Hospital) & Adam Pick

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