Ben's Photos

Steve Farthing  Very useful to get an idea of what incisions robotic involves. Plus this also shows that after 2 weeks you are limber enough to raise that arm way up which is good to know. Thanks Ben.

Rich Singer  Looking good Ben. I found out April 4 which approach my surgeon will opt for. I am hoping for this, and yes as a physical therapist I would say your shoulder ROM looks great!

Ben Hyman  Thanks for the feedback. Despite the smaller incision, still hurts after the Tylenol wears off. I'm 15 days post surgery and hoping that the pain starts fading next week

Lilly Black  Nice! I'm sure you're thrilled to be back home. Take one day at a time, Ben. I wish you a successful recovery! by the way, I was surprised to see your age, 58. Take care!

Dave Van Buren (DVB)  Way to go Ben! Keep up with the activity (but not so much it hurts) and you'll be amazed at how well it goes. Facilitates healing, reduces pain, improves your outlook and decreases risks of complications. Many ways to keep on winning! All the best to you my brave man, DVB

Meredith Bray  I called it the torture device. It didn't hurt, but everyone was bugging me to use it - the nurses, the patient care techs, my dad, my mom, my sister, my husband..... enough already! lol

Bob Jensen  Ben - wear those into the operating room when you report for surgery. Bring that fun to the proceedure, and the docs and nurses will love it - you will do GREAT!

anna bell  Bob, how did your surgeon decide to exclude your lungs condition from the CHD symptoms. My surgeon is afraid that my lungs are not up to the positive recovery from the surgery. Please answer. I will have a CT scan next week and hopefully surgery next month. Thanks, Anna

Corey Sines  Looks like you are in good shape and look younger than your age! I have done alot of weight training and cardo in my days. But I am not familiar with Kettleball work outs, I will have to google it, looks interesting..

Ellen Leng  Ya look good! I looked at your journal. I'm 53, in good health, also with MVP that I was told was benign. My mod-severe MR was caught with luck. I elected to have my surgery earlier than my Cardiologist would have liked as my atrium is enlarged and I want to decrease my long term afib risk. I found a recent paper that uses ERO (effective regurgitation orifice) to determine how people did after mitral valve surgery. Basically, if you were in the moderate plus ERO category (ERO 20-39) your life expectancy returns to normal after surgery, where if you wait to ERO 40+, your life expectancy drops, even with successful surgery. Had my repair do be at local valve center (kudos to Sequoia hospital and Dr. Luis Castro) 2 weeks ago and more dealing with post op afib, but am generally doing well.
I recome down asking your Cardiologist about ERO and talking about risk v benefit with your valve numbers when you are seen at Mayor.
I was told to maintain my workout schedule pre-op which it sounds like you are doing.
Best!

Ben Hyman  Thank you Ellen. I'll ask what my ERO is during my consult. Hopefully it's not progressed where my life expectacy is affected after surgery

Phyllis Petersen  I love kettlebells! I can't wait to be able to do them again, but I know there's a lot of healing post-op. Keep up the great work so you're ready when surgery time comes.

Civita Fahey  I used to do a lot of kettlebells.. they were great.. , but they told me not to due to the bicuspid vavle and moderate/severe stenosis..hoping that once I eventually get surgery, I can go back..

Ben Hyman  I believe that doing Kettlbell for the last 7 years have kept me out if the OR until now. I still have no symptoms but echos don't lie. Will probably have to get the valve repaired by early 2017. Hopefully my conditioning will contribute to a speedy recovery

Civita Fahey  That's probably true Ben.. I've tried keeping conditioned by doing a boxing workout which I can still get through.. they just told me since having a bicuspid valve may cause aortic aneurysm lifting heavier weights, or kettlebells could cause problems with dissection so, I just stopped for now.. if it works for you and its ok, then I say go for it. the better shape we are in, hopefully our recovery will be easier..

Duane Beeman  Looks like a great work out. So much for my plan of filling up on Butter Pecan ice cream for the next three weeks.