Steven's Journal

I’m home!!! I was discharged yesterday after some complications unrelated to the valve. In summary my liver count was really high. I was horribly sick Sunday night. Details not needed. I can’t tell you how much Robyn’s presence and all your messages meant. Being hospitalized is hard. Being sick is hard. Recovering from a surgical procedure like this is not easy. Thank you to all of you !!! I shared that when Dr Stelzer came to my room to tell me my EKG and Echo were perfect I broke down. It’s crazy how emotional this whole process has been. Growing up being reminded all the tome you have a heart condition and can’t participate was challenging. I’m the end there’s always someone else with a worse challenge. Being told I may be “fixed” was overwhelming. I truly feel blessed by the care I received at Mount Sinai and all the clinical people that managed my care. I was blessed with support from Amerihealth NJ! I came home yesterday and walked 20 minutes around the block! Wow right ! I’m determined to do everything necessary to recover and enjoy a long life thanks to The Ross and my amazing clinical team. Thanks again to Robyn for being by my side during some very dark moments, to my family, friends and this community. Steve

It’s Robyn again. All is going great. Steve is in the ICU, awake and talking. He is weak and in pain, but that is to be expected. The doctor said the first two days after surgery are the worst and then there tends to be a dramatic improvement after that. The surgery took an unusually long time due to an extensive amount of scar tissue. But ultimately it ended beautifully. According to the operative report, the old valve was severely calcified and barely functioning. So again, we’re so thankful it’s out of there. Hard to believe he was walking around with that for so long. We are beyond grateful to Dr. Stelzer and everyone here at Mt. Sinai and looking forward to the better days ahead. Thanks again to everyone for your continued support. Steve sends his love.

Hi it’s Robyn again. I just received a call from the surgeon. The surgery went great and he is off the heart/lung machine. He should be closed up and out of surgery within the hour.

Hi everyone. Robyn here. We arrived at Mt. Sinai around 7 this morning and the people couldn’t have been nicer. We spoke with the surgeon who explained that they will be starting anesthesia around 9:30 and then the actual surgery around 11. I won’t hear anything at all until surgery is complete which should be between 3 and 5. Steve was in good spirits and we are both excited to have him fixed. Dr. Stelzer could not have instilled more confidence. This is one of three Ross procedures he is doing this week. Just another day at the office! As soon as I hear anything I will post an update. Love to all and thanks again for the outpouring of communication and support.

All, So this is my big week. Tomorrow I drive up to New York to Mount Sinai for some final testing. If all goes well I will return home Monday afternoon only to drive back Tuesday night. Robyn and I will stay at hotel near the hospital. Wed morning I’m scheduled to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM. Robyn will provide updates via this journal. As I’ve shared with several of you, learning about the Ross procedure feels like it could change my life. Having access to Dr Stelzer and El-Hamamsy feels like a gift. The ultimate gift is the love and support I get from each of you. Hoping for a great week!

I’m thinking tonight about the fact that I have one more week. Next Monday is my pre-testing then we go to NY on Tuesday to check into hotel and show time is 12/9. I’m first surgery of the day. I will say thanks 100 more times but thanks to my amazing friends and family. I’m sure each of us that is going through cardiac surgery is hopefully as blessed as I with the love and support of just special friends and family. For each person that has asked me what they can do for me, run an errand or just about anything...it all means the world to me. Robyn, my fiancé, there’s nothing she’s not done or isn’t preparing to do for me. My mother has always been there and I’m so blessed to have her telling me she’s there to help and then she cries for me! That’s my mom. My closest friends that are always there for me you know I love all you guys and would do anything for you. My cousin Scott....you all know who you are. Thank you. Back in 2012 when I was home recovering my daughter, Sammi, was 10. She asked me when I would be better so we could fight with each other again. Then we went on walks together as I built my strength back. I cherished those moments in spite of the challenges of cardiac surgery recovery. So that’s my Sat night rant. As patients, we have to accept the final outcome is just out of our control. I know my recovery depends on the love in my life and the incredible support from my business colleagues. Love and thanks to all of you for all the love you’ve given me and I feel every day. Thanks, Steve

This evening I saw a post from a guy on Facebook on a heart valve patient community in which the patient shared he was operated on 2 weeks ago by my surgeon, Dr Stelzer. He’s home and feeling great. Love seeing great news like that. Hoping I experience that type of outcome.

Getting things organized as I'm 14 days from my Ross procedure. As always, I remain so incredibly grateful for my family, friends and business associates that provide me with the support necessary to go through this process. We learn a lot about ourselves when we go through this. I did this back in 2012. You also learn a lot about your close circle and how much they mean to you. Wishing everyone in this community and in my life a happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for my surgery team at Mount Sinai led by Dr. Stelzer that will be performing the ROSS Procedure on me. PS - thanks to everyone in my life that now knows what the Ross procedure is and you held back from telling me you don't care!! Happy Thanksgiving and love to all.

I had my AVR sugery back in May 2012. I'm thankful every day. I check in and see so many people having this successful procedure. It's incredible and new technology is coming! Just sharing some interesting updates in the world of new technology in the pipeline. This Swiss company has polymer technology - Swiss cardiovascular device developer Novostia said today it raised $6.5 million (CHF 6.5 million) to support its novel heart valve device. The Neuchâtel-based company said that the valve, which will be designed for use as both an aortic and mitral valve replacement, is designed from the company’s proprietary high-performance biocompatible polymer. Novostia said that the design, as well as the materials that make up the valve, eliminate the need for lifelong anticoagulant medication use or future replacements as well as the elimination of clicking noises often associated with the valves. “Our technology should significantly improve the quality of life of people bearing a heart valve prosthesis, especially kids and young patients, while reducing overall healthcare costs. We appreciate the trust and support of our investors and look forward to bringing this long-awaited innovation to the patients and the physicians,” CEO Geoffroy Lapeyre said in a press release

EINDHOVEN, The Netherlands and ZURICH, November 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Xeltis, a clinical-stage medical device company pioneering a restorative approach in heart valve therapy, today announced the completion of an oversubscribed EUR45 million ($52 million) Series C financing. The funding round was led by a global strategic investor with participation from venture capital fund Ysios Capital and a number of large private investors. Existing institutional investors (LSP, Kurma Partners and VI Partners) and private investors also participated in the financing. Xeltis' heart valves enable the patient's own body to naturally restore a new heart valve through a therapeutic approach called Endogenous Tissue Restoration (ETR). With ETR, the patient's natural healing system develops tissue that pervades Xeltis' heart valve, forming a new, natural and fully functional valve within it. As ETR occurs, Xeltis implants are gradually absorbed by the body. ETR is enabled by bioabsorbable polymers based on Nobel Prize awarded science. I encourage everyone in this community to continue reading about amazing technological advances that we should all see commercialized over the next 3-5 years.

I'had my AVR in May 2012 so I'm at 5 years already! I'm doing great and remain incredibly thankful for my surgeon and the technology that fixed me. The fix, as we know is temporary but the technology continues to improve. Here's a recent update for those dealing with valve choice... Edwards Lifesciences ($EW) expects to launch a new bioprosthetic valve next year. Management has already described its Inspiris as a "game changer" that could be useful for a younger patient population. Inspiris incorporates novel bovine tissue technology, known as Resilia, that's intended to remove the major source of calcification that plagues other tissue technologies and to enable dry storage. Inspiris is surgically implanted--but in a few years Resilia could be incorporated into a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The technology is furthest along in aortic use--but is also in the clinic for mitral and pulmonary valve replacement. Inspiris Resilia is expected to be approved in Europe late this year and early next year in the U.S. The mitral study and the pulmonary study, which is in congenital child and young adult patients, are currently enrolling patients. "Inspiris, … I believe, is a game changer," said Edwards corporate VP of surgical heart valve therapy Bernard Zovighian at a December investor meeting. "Basically, when you're a patient, when you are about to receive a valve, you ask yourself how long it is going to last. And with the TAVR in a broader adoption, we are going to target younger and younger patients. So this question is going to be critical for us to answer and for the surgeon to answer." The company noted that about half of target patients needing this combination are under 60 years old and that they currently are confined mainly to mechanical valves. Edwards reported data on a valve featuring Resilia at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery's meeting. In a 673-patient pivotal trial, the valve showed no cases of structural valve deterioration, valve thrombosis or nonstructural valve dysfunction at one year. "The early clinical results with the new valve with Resilia tissue in this multicenter, international FDA trial are encouraging and set a high benchmark for surgical aortic valve replacement," said Dr. John Puskas, chair of cardiothoracic surgery at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and director of surgical coronary revascularization at Mount Sinai Health System, in a statement. He is the national principal investigator of the study. He continued, "The Resilia tissue has the potential to create a new class of surgical tissue valves that pre-clinical studies have shown to offer key benefits, such as significantly reduced calcification and sustained hemodynamics."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160112091400.htm the link is to an interesting report in Science Daily about the shift in thinking of patients 40-70 years old electing bioprosthetic valve over mechanical valve.

May 14th is my 3rd year anniversary of having AVR (Bovine from Dr. Bavaria at Penn) and aneurysm repair. Several weeks post surgery I also has successful ablation to correct Supra Ventricular Tachycardia. 3 years on May 14th. I will continue to say I hated surgery but loved the outcome! It is a miracle. If you're like me I continue to track all of the amazing advancements being made in this field of aortic valve repair/replacement. My best to everyone in this community. There is such power in connectivity. Thanks, Adam Pick, for this platform.

I don't do this much but I just thought I would post a quick update. I've been reading many of the journals and it's just great to see this activity. Adam has done an amazing job with this website as you have all experienced. My surgery was in May of 2012 for an AVR/Aneurism repair. If I can share anything with you please let me know. Good luck to all of you that are waiting for your big day!

Just sharing...I received my St. Jude's Trifecta valve on May 14, 2012. Yesterday I ran a 10K charity run. My time wasn't great (11:20 mile)....I know maybe I should request my money back on the valve but I'll take it! I finished. In fact, I should be running more. Now my biggest complaint is knee pain. Life goes on!

This May 14th is going to be my one year anniversary! Less than 12 months ago I had my aortic valve replaced, had successful ablasion surgery to correct the super ventricular tachachardia that was causing my heart to suddenly race to over 200 beats per minute and I had the aneurism in my aortic valve repaired. On Monday evening I took my surgeon that performed the ablasion surgery along with several close friends out to dinner to thank them for what they did for me less than a year ago. It was a small gesture but an amazing feeling. There are so many people that reached out during my recovery to comment on this blog, dropped off food, texted to say they were thinking of me, dropped off a basket, offered to literally pay bills for me, bought food, drove my daughter to soccer practice, stopped off to my home to spend time........the list goes on. This whole thing remains a miracle. So for those that have had the procedure none of us can probably ever truly express how much the support we received from friends and family actually meant to us. If you\'re one of those friends/family...once again thank you!!!

I read fellow Heart Valve Journal member Mitch Friedman\'s update today and it reminded me to check in and offer my own update. I\'m approaching 3 months post-op on August 14th. Mitch\'s made the point in his update of using this site for not just the rah rah stuff but for sharing challenges. To my friends that have followed my progress, clearly I had my challenges the first few weeks post op. However, I continue to run almost everyday. I\'m focusing less on distance and more on time. My runs are between 25 and 45 minutes each day. If I don\'t run I\'m on a machine. Starting a couple of days ago, I\'m working to do push-ups again. I\'ve waited for my sternum to heal completely and since I\'m approaching the 3 month point it\'s time for some push ups! Time also to go for a swim!! My daughter started her Aikido class recently and it\'s likely I will find time to get back to that training. I can\'t wait! We all know, for those of us that chose a tissue valve, we\'re going to need another procedure in the future. I\'m down to taking asprin! No meds!!! Once again, and as always, good luck to all of you entering this process. The fact is you\'re almost certainly going to do great! If you\'ve got an ounce of compassion and human spirit in your newly repaired heart you will have moments almost everyday where you\'ll have to remind yourself to not forget to be more thankful than ever. Enjoy the rest of the summer, go for a run, help someone that needs it or my 10 year old daughter will kick your ass! Steve

I\'m coming up on 2 months post-op. July 14th is 2 months. It\'s all amazing - it just is. One thing for those that elected for the tissue valve is I was told to avoid Enriched Calcium. You\'ll frequently find this in orange juice or products like TUMS. Natural calcium found in products like yogurt and milk seems to be fine. It seems this type of calcium can wear out your valve earlier. To be clear, I\'m not a doctor but I have spoken to many of them and don\'t even want to play one on tv! I just wanted to share this and encourage you to speak to your surgeon or cardiologist (and not me!). Just sharing. Be well!!!!! I seriously do welcome your thoughts. Steve

This was an incredible week/weekend just because I have clearly moved to another level of recovery. My resting heart rate is FINALLY down in the 70\'s. That is so big to me. I didn\'t push it today but Sammi joined me for another 2 mile neighborhood walk. This time we took some of the hillier streets and I felt great. I loved walking with her. This evening I DROVE and I took Sammi out for Japanese food. I know...easy on the soy. We always had a great connection but there is something about going through this whole thing that allows conversation to seem more genuine, direct and real. Sammi and I had the BEST dinner convesation and we just talked about so many things. It was awesome. Ok...going to the office tomorrow for a half a day. Again, to my friends going in for surgery in the morning do your best to attack this process and manage expectations. If you\'re on this site you have done your homework and you\'re ready. Get fixed. Thanks Steve