Diane Harris - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

2553 days ago

What if the 2 surgeons that I was considering are not listed on the Surgeon Finder list? I live in Austin, Texas and I have to believe we still have good surgeons ...Read more

What if the 2 surgeons that I was considering are not listed on the Surgeon Finder list? I live in Austin, Texas and I have to believe we still have good surgeons here for heart valve replacement. My doctor recommends 3 and I am considering Dr. Stephan Dewan. My friends mother just had surgery in March and she is recommending her surgeon Dr. Subbareddy Konda. Has anyone heard of these surgeons? I googled and they seem to have a couple of reviews but not a lot of information. I have consults with them both this month for Aortic Stenosis valve replacement.

Anna Jones Hi Diane. I am in Austin too. Use this site to look up surgeons in Texas by name: https://www.check ... Read more

Anna Jones Hi Diane. I am in Austin too. Use this site to look up surgeons in Texas by name: https://www.checkbook.org/surgeonratings/Heart-Valve-or-Bypass-Surgery/TX/?Page=1 I went to talk to Dr. Dewan's partner Dr. Wlliam Kessler in February. He spent a lot of time with me, gave me a lot of information, and really impressed me as a human. Unfortunately when I asked him if he felt he could repair my valve, he said he gave me a 50% chance and that wasn't good enough for me. My cardiologist recommended him highly however. Instead I went to Dr. Gerald Lawrie at Houston Methodist in Houston. He was able to repair my mitral valve and I was happy with his work.

http://www.check/

Louanna Miller I’m originally from just outside of Austin. A girlfriend had valve replacement at Austin Heart Hos ... Read more

Louanna Miller I’m originally from just outside of Austin. A girlfriend had valve replacement at Austin Heart Hospital in November 2017. I will ask her for her MD and surgeons names.

Diane Harrisposted an update

2564 days ago

Adam Pick, Kelly Stoll reacted to this

I am new to the website but feel it is time I start getting some support. I have Aortic Stenosis and a bicuspid valve. In May my echo showed a huge increase ...Read more

I am new to the website but feel it is time I start getting some support. I have Aortic Stenosis and a bicuspid valve. In May my echo showed a huge increase and I am now borderline moderate/severe. My doctor told be to start researching surgeons. I have a stress echo scheduled in August along with two consults with two different surgeons. I have no family and not really any support, so I am somewhat scared about this all. I am in the process of reading Adam's book and writing out questions to ask my doctors. My mean grads in May were at 37, so I am wondering how much longer I have before I need surgery. I am nervous it will be this year, possible in the next few months.

Adam Pick We're here to help Diane! You're going to do great. Let me know how I can help!

Rose Madura Hi Diane. It's all very scary when you first find out. I knew all my life I would need surgery and ... Read more

Rose Madura Hi Diane. It's all very scary when you first find out. I knew all my life I would need surgery and STILL was scared and shocked when I found out. I had a bicuspid aortic valve, an aneurysm and needed hemiarch replacement as well. I looked up my records and my mean gradiant was 56 but I think they waited too long and felt like I should have had it earlier. Three opinions agreed that it should have been done sooner. In one year's time, my mead gradient went from 35 to 54 and then just a couple months later when I had another echo just prior to surgery, it was up to 56 already. But everyone is different. My best advise would be to make sure you have a cardiologist you can trust and a great surgeon. After nearly 14 months, I feel great. I encountered complications but we found I'm very symptomatic to things but in the end, it's all good. I wish you the best. Let me know if you have any questions.

Catie B Welcome, Diane! I went through the process on my own and understand how daunting the prospect of sur ... Read more

Catie B Welcome, Diane! I went through the process on my own and understand how daunting the prospect of surgery and recovery is. People are very compassionate here and I hope connecting at HVS will be very helpful throughout your journey. Hope you'll keep posting and asking questions.