{"id":31610,"date":"2020-04-15T15:05:40","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T20:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/?p=31610"},"modified":"2020-09-21T11:58:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-21T16:58:34","slug":"pickleball-patient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.heart-valve-surgery.com\/heart-surgery-blog\/2020\/04\/15\/pickleball-patient\/","title":{"rendered":"After Heart Surgery, Frank Wins Pickleball Silver Medal At National Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love when patients in our community send me their success stories.\u00a0 For example, Frank Collura just brought a smile to my face.\u00a0 Here’s what Frank emailed me:<\/p>\n

About 5 years ago, I had my aortic valve replaced<\/a> with a pig valve. I was 78 years old.\u00a0 At the time of surgery, I was playing full-court basketball with a middle-aged group of guys at my church.\u00a0 I had been playing with them for about 10 years, 3 times a week.\u00a0 I was very upset at the prospect of not being able to play competitive basketball after heart surgery.<\/p>\n

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\"FrankFrank Collura (Aortic Valve Replacement Patient)<\/p>\n

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\nAbout a year later, I moved to the desert.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I could not find a pickup game of basketball.<\/p>\n

One of my friends suggested that I try Pickleball<\/a>, which I did.\u00a0 Now, I play Pickleball two to three hours a day.\u00a0 The sport is not as physical as basketball.\u00a0 But, it is great exercise.<\/p>\n

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\"Pickleball<\/p>\n

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This past November, I participated in the 2019 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships<\/a> in Indian Wells, California.\u00a0 There were over 2,500 participants.\u00a0 I received a silver medal in my bracket (3.5 skill level, 75+ years).\u00a0 At the time, I was 83 years old.<\/p>\n

I strongly suggest that heart surgery survivors consider this sport and remember that life can be great after surgery! Valve replacement is not the end of competitive sports even at my age!<\/p>\n

See More Patient Success Stories:<\/p>\n