Recent content by jtludwig

You're right..there is no right or wrong answer. All I can say is that Dr. Vlahakes is the chief of cardiac surgery at one of the best heart hospitals in the country, so I considered it unwise to disagree with his recommendations.

I chose a St. Jude Masters valve for my aortic valve replacement. My surgeon, Dr. Vlahakis at Mass General Hospital in Boston said it was the only one he used. During one of our earlier meetings I asked about having the latest/greatest valve, and he stopped me and said you want the one with...

That's interesting. I just had my valve replacement on 1 Feb 2010 and recently had an Echo. The doc called me and said that my heart muscle is a bit "sluggish" but that this is common after aortic valve replacement surgery. He wants me to come in for a stress test. I'll keep you posted. --Jason

Thanks everyone! The hospital just called..said I'm all set in terms of the insurance :).

Good morning, I'm new to this forum but am glad that I found it..it is nice to read about other peoples experiences. So here is my situation: I am 30yrs old and am scheduled for aortic root repair/replacement and possible aortic valve replacement (I have a bicuspid aortic valve). My surgeon...

Thanks everyone! I checked the Tricare website again this morning, and sure enough there was the request from the hospital...it said that the decision was "pending" but I assume that is because they just received the request either yesterday or this morning.

Quick question about insurance pre-authorizations. I am a 30 yr old scheduled for AVR and root repair at Massachusettes General Hospital next week. I called Tricare (my insurance company..I'm in the Air Force) today to see if they had received anything requesting authorization for my upcoming...

Yeah you're not kidding. Forget it with restrictions like that.