New Member - Introduction

[Donald]

Thank you all.

Thank you all.

Thank you all for the warm welcome. In case you haven't noticed, I added an avatar, a picture of myself. I have always had a special place in my heart (pardon the pun) for Dr. Starr. I contacted him via email last December about my problem, and he replied to my email, and later called me on the phone.

He reviewed my CAT scan and told me my aorta root was 5.5 cm and increases in size to the top of the aorta valve. He said the size is was not alarming at that time! He also said that I need to be concerned if the size increases to 6 - 6.5 cm, and to monitor this condition. And he assured me they were there to help when the time comes.

For those of you who may be interested in how it came to be that Dr. Starr was my surgeon - here is the story: I was not totally convinced when my cardiologist informed me that I needed major heart surgery for a valve replacement. That's when I remembered seeing a documentary of Starr-Edwards on television a few months earlier, and how impressed I was with what the Starr-Edwards team has accomplished. To make a long story short, I ask my doctor if it would be possible to get Dr. Starr for the surgery. He didn't know, but he wrote Dr. Starr a letter. Dr. Starr told me later that he was honored that I had requested him!

Last but not least, Dr. Starr convinced me that I needed the surgery, and that it needed to be done so that I could get on with my life. I had no doubts about my decision when I left his office.

Thanks again,

-Don

 

[George]

Welcome, Don.. from another of Dr. Starr's patients!

Welcome, Don.. from another of Dr. Starr's patients!

Hi Don!
It's very nice to welcome another of Dr. Starr's patients here! As has been mentioned, I was a "return customer" to Dr. Starr in 2005. He had done my repair of Tetrology of Fallot 40 years earlier. I was a young boy, 10 years old back then. At that time, the normal procedure was to remove the pulmonary valve, & NOT replace it. All of us TOF patients of that era are faced with the issue of having pulmonary valve replacement surgery as we reach our 50's, if not sooner.
When my cardiologist contacted Dr. Starr, he was very interested in seeing me. When we met, Dr. Starr indicated that the time had come for me to consider Pulmonary Valve Replacement, & offered to do it himself. Of course, I accepted. I felt very fortunate to have him again as my surgeon.
Don, you may want to consider coming down to Portland, & having a consultation with Dr. Starr. Even at his age of 82, I can assure you he is as sharp as can be I'm sure he'd be happy to see you.
Good Luck!

 

[Phyllis]

Welcome, Don. Be sure to let us know when you have a surgery date so we can add you to the calendar.

 

[Freddie]

I'm late again..........what else is new, but I do want say Hi and Welcome to the family. It case it hasn't been mentioned already...........Don you have found one amazing site and now with your experience you've made it that much better.
Best wishes for your up coming surgery.

 

[terence]

Hi Don,

I'm also new here and also potentially in line for replacement of part of my ascending aorta. I just wanted to echo one of the commentors above. As I understand it, if it is just the lower part of your ascending aorta that needs to be replaced this type of surgery is no more major than actual valve replacement. If the replacement needs to take place further up (they used the term arch) then things are more complicated, although, according to my surgeon, the prognosis - under normal circumstances - is still very good.

You would really need to check with a specialist about this (maybe a second opinion) but my understanding is that somewhere around 5cm you enter a grey zone where it may be necessary to replace part of your aorta, but things aren't necessarily clear cut until your aorta is wider. If you're in the grey zone your surgeon will also want to take into account other factors too. I need to emphasise that I'm no expert on this but I do think you being in the 'grey zone' might explain the differing opinions of the surgeons you have spoken to thus far.

 

[terence]

oh just re-read the thread. I guess what has changed since Dr Starr saw your CAT results and now is that your aorta has widened further.

 

[Dawn-Marie]

Hi Don ~ Welcome to the VR community. I'm so glad you found us and i hope you enjoy being here!

 

[njean]

Just wanted to welcome you to the community Don. We have all traveled down some of the same paths before, so we're here to help each other along.

Glad you found us!