Jason's Profile

I was born with a congenital aortic stenosis/bicvspid valve and diagnosed at a young age by my pediatrician. I spent most of my life with yearly 2D trans-thoracic echocardiograms without really much change. Unfortunately, I enjoyed playing hockey and rowed crew when I was younger, but my cardiologist at the time felt uncomfortable with these so he asked me to stop. Otherwise, I had lived a normal life and went into medicine due to my pre-existing condition. After finishing my training in medicine, my numbers jumped up rather dramatically when I was 32 and I was told I would need surgery in the short-term. I was really upset because I was on the earlier side of the bell-curve for my valve worsening. However, I was blessed to meet the incredible Dr Paul Stelzer, who not only put me at complete ease when I needed surgery, but re-evaluated my case and felt we could continue with watchful waiting since I was asymptomatic. Fast forward 3 more uneventful years and despite being relatively asymptomatic, my stress echocardiogram showed lack of LV augmentation with exercise, which left no other need for proof. I had chosen the Ross Procedure 3 years earlier and stuck with it based on it's excellent outcomes in expert hands like Dr Stelzer and Dr El-Hamamsy. I also did not envision my lifestyle being conducive to being on a blood thinner with the concern for bleeding and infectious complications. My valve replacement and ascending aortic repair (not replacement) on 8/19/2020 and hospital stay were uneventful except my valve turned out to be a uni-cuspid valve which explained my earlier than normal deterioration! I cannot say enough about Dr Stelzer and Dr El-Hamamsy and the entire MS Heart team! I am forever grateful!