Leslie's Guestbook

Hello, I am so glad you reached out. I would love to hear more about your son's journey. So do I understand correctly that Dr. El-Hamamsy was your son's surgeon also? My son Drake had his surgery in September of 2022 when he was 22. He has done well and really hasn't had any major issues. He developed COVID 3 days after we flew back home from New York. I am sure he got it on the plane. That was scary for me because of the possible endocarditis. He felt better after a couple days. It was in November 2022 that he started having the strange shoulder/back pain. He had several rounds of that on into December. He went to the cardiologist and he of course did echos and ran blood tests and nothing showed up. The pain matched the pain after the surgery. He didn't have another episode of the back/shoulder pain until around Fall in 2023. It is so strange. It seems to only happen in Fall and Winter. I bet that is tough for your son managing that pain and going to class. Drake's cardiologist would also like for him to stay on his BP medicine because it is cardio protective. We are trying to arrange a zoom call to talk with Dr. El-Hamamsy about Drake's numbers from his echos. His cardiologist said he would support Drake if he wanted to stop the BP medicine, but to keep in mind that his ascending aorta is measuring 38mm and they replace it if it reaches 50mm. He did say that it would be a slow progression to get to that number. Drake will continue to get his echos every 6 months for the next 5 years, so he can play around with his medicine and see if things change. I would love to keep in touch with you. I am glad your son is doing great in college. Is he far from home? As mom's we can't help but worry. I would say take your cues from him. If he is doing great and feeling fine, allow yourself to feel that way also. My son is aware that he will more than likely need a re-operation in the future since he is so young, but for now he is just happy that he doesn't have to take blood thinners and manage his diet which would have been the case with a mechanical valve. Sorry this is so long. Please feel free to email me if you would like and we can even talk by phone. I would love to hear how you decided on the Ross Procedure for your son. My email is lprebyl@hotmail.com. Take care--Leslie Prebyl