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Psst. Hi there. My name is Tom. I welcome you to this site. You will find a plethora of well informed answers to every question that you could possibly have. The members of this site are all amazing. They are here to calm your pre-surgery fears and cheer you on during your recovery. I...

It seems like a lifetime ago in many respects. So much has happened. My son has grown up too fast. He was barely four when I went in. Now he's 8 going on 20. I wish that I could brag about how profound that surgery affected my life. In some aspects, I feel as though I have taken my...

Today is the one year anniversary of my surgery. It's been a strange journey the past twelve months, but I can say that I'm thankful to be here. The help and knowledge gained during my visits to this site along with the invaluable conversations truly made a difference for me. Many thanks to...

As Thursday approaches, I have started to count the many, many things that I am thankful for this year. First and foremost, I am incredibly blessed to have such an incredible wife and son showering me with their love everyday. Secondly, I want to thank all of you on this site for your postings...

I had my six month follow-up appointment today. I had an echo done last Friday too. Happy to report that everything checked out just fine. My cardiologist told me to come back and see him in a year. My INR levels are still up and down, but other than that, things are going well. He has...

August 4th was the four month anniversary for my valve (mechanical) and aortic root replacement. I have been absent from regular posting here on the site recently and I hope to start up again now. Funny how things manage to fall back to "normal" once you get over the hump recovering from...

Yesterday was my one month anniversary for my surgery. It turned out that my bicuspid aortic valve was actually a unicuspid. It was in pretty bad shape according to Dr. Sabik, so I feel quite fortunate that I had the surgery when I did. I got a Dacron graft put in and a St. Jude mechanical...

Now that I have made it to the other side of my surgery, I would like to pass along some of the items that served me well beforehand. I have a copy of Adam Pick's book, The Patient's Guide to Heart Valve Surgery and an Incision Guard that he recommends in the book. I would like to send them to...

So far so good in regard to my recovery. Aside from some serious pain between my shoulders, I'm feeling good. Looks like my hopes for release are being held up by my INR. Originally I had hoped that I would be getting a CT scan on Monday and then hit the road but that isn't in the cards...

Getting ready for bed now..long day of testing in the books today. I'm in the "B" group of surgeries tomorrow. I report at 10 am and should get in there at 11, assuming everything goes well in the first group. Dr. Sabik says there is a chance for repair (got my blessing if possible), if not...

I am heading to the Cleveland Clinic for surgery on 4/4/12. We are taking a train out there to Chicago and driving to Cleveland. My plan as it stands now, is to drive back to Chicago a few days after being released and taking the train back home to Denver. The train ride would last 18 hours...

Hello everyone, I'm new to the site and am trying to decide on whether to travel go the Cleveland Clinic or stay home and have it here in Denver. I met with Dr. Kevin Miller here and liked him quite a bit. Our insurance allows for us to have the procedure done anywhere. My surgeon in...