Barry's Photos

For all those having to deal with Heart valve replacement surgery sometime in 2018, I am posting this to possibly ease the anxiety of this medical adventure. In 2010, the detection of a simple heart murmur & eventually an echocardiogram revealed moderate aortic stenosis but by late 2016, it evolved into "severe" aortic stenosis & I still had no major symptoms whatsoever. My oncologist showed me a page from the New England Journal of Medicine that clearly states that valvular disease can develop 30 years later due to the radiation I recieved for the early Stages of Hodgkins disease I was diagnosed with in 1988. The early Stages of Hodgkins disease was tagged as 95% curable back then but the radiation was actually the culprit for the aortic stenosis!!! I had an aortic valve replacement done back on July 5th,2016 and walked out of the Hospital just 4 days later with no side issues whatsoever. ,,,,Being that I was 56 years of age & still an active guy, I purposely chose the Edwards Lifesciences Magna Ease Bovine Tissue Valve(Model #3300TFX) with the perspective that the TAVR procedure will be even moreso perfected when the valve needs to be replaced hopefully 12 + years from now or even more. Both the Cleveland Clinic & Penn Medicine agreed with my choice, sense of direction & perspective. After doing my research & getting (3) 2nd opinions, I ultimately selected Dr Raymond Singer(LVHN) who late last year just recently celebrated a milestone of 7000 surgeries in 25 years whereas the same members of his surgical team were also with him all of those 25 years. This is why I actually chose Thoracic Surgeon Dr Raymond Singer @ LVHN because of his impressive track record of successful surgeries & the sizeably longevity of being together in sync as a team relevant to efficiency. I celebrated my 1 year Anniversary in giving the valve it's 1st rigorous workout by extensively hiking the Continental Divide out in Colorado just one year later. ,,,,A few 10 hour roundtrip hike(s) was a true sizeable test even at higher altitudes!!! Additionally,,,,,,, when it comes to Adam Pick's book titled "A Patient's Guide to Heart Valve Surgery", it was the best $29.95 I had ever spent my entire life. ,,,,,While extensively researching Thoracic Surgeons from around the Country, I had read this book twice from top to bottom between January & June of 2016, underlined all key informative detail(s) & got myself totally prepared in every possible way for July 5th,2016. I was hugely aware of the entire sequence of events that was about to unravel from day to day & knew exactly what to expect. One of the 2 most beneficial things I depended on in the 1st (4) weeks after surgery was the Hospital Heart pillow that I held against my chest to alleviate some moderate discomfort when I sizeably laughed or sneezed. Additionally, renting an electric reclining chair was definitely the most useful tool of all when getting up & down. In my viewpoint, the chair is a must have & it became my primary bed for a full 8 weeks after surgery!!! ,,,,You don't want to put unnecessary strain on your upper chest getting up & down from a typical couch or bed. But for me personally, one of the best attributes I extracted from Adam's book is how he asked both family & friends to participate in his recovery for the 1st two weeks after the Surgery. ,,,,,Smart!!! I adopted the exact same strategy & it worked out just beautifully. As a single guy, it gave me total piece of mind to know someone was always consistently there as a just in case. And believe me, I asked myself several "what if 's" leading up to the day of surgery. I hope this write-up truly helps the next person who has to go thru this similar medical adventure. The Pic I placed above is part of a local Newspaper article whereas they featured Dr Singer. It's a great write-up & if you want to read the whole thing,,,, just e-mail me & I will send it to you. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,barry.kanick@volvo.com

I just read your journal Anna. After I wrote Dr Singer a detailed informative letter about my situation, he actually called me at my house one early evening on his own time to discuss it. He recognized that I was already hugely informed about the overall procedure so we then scheduled a 1 hour consultation whereas he answered all my additional relevant concerns. ,,,I was very impressed!!! ,,,I committed to schedule the surgery and luckily he was able to fit me into his schedule an estimated 1-1/2 months later.

Barry, that's wonderful :-). I am seeing my GP today and will see if he is willing to call Dr. Accola for me. I don't hold out much hope and it sort of makes me not want to go to him. I did send a detailed letter along with my records to Dr. Accola but the only response I got was a rude call from his nurse telling me that I should book the surgery. Your surgeon is truly amazing.