Robert's Profile

My father died at the age of 67 from a ruptured aorta and I turned 66 in April. Have been tracking my distension for several years and doing annual echo cardiograms. I have been deteriorating for a while and had moderate regurgitation in February of last year. Had my first experience with kidney stones in early December and finally went into the hospital for pain management. The admitting doctor was a cardiologist who listened to my heart and immediately ordered an echo on December 17. I was at severe. Saw Dr. Sperling in January, he listened to the echo done in December and then my heart and said "interesting". Scheduled me with a cardiologist for pre-operative care. When Dr. Viswanathan listened, he said I had deteriorated significantly between mid December and January. I underwent a weight loss program with Dr. Andrick and my valve continued to significantly deteriorate. I went from O2 for sleeping to using it most of the time and able to do a few things to almost nothing. Just before the angiogram as part of the pre-surgery tests Dr. Viswanathan was talking about maybe delaying to lose some more weight. After the procedure, he said "That is really leaking!" and no more talk about delay. My surgeon, Dr. Sperling, is the doctor who performed the Cleveland Clinic David Procedure videos so in very good hands. The Medical Center of Aurora just was acknowledged as the top hospital in Colorado. Ready to go do this Monday morning!