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Kathryn, that's very helpful. How was the breathing tube...the removal of the chest tubes? That all might scare me more than the surgery!

WOW WOW WOW. What a story! My wife had wondered what would happen if we went there and they said I should have it THEN. I assured her that doesn't happen. Then along you come! 😱 With me, he just said, "soon." I consider myself asymptomatic and would like to keep it that way until surgery...

If you don't get updates, that's a bad sign. I write for a living so story telling is part of who I am. (Working with my hands - hey, when I was a kid who made plastic models I was the one who got glue ... everywhere but where it was supposed to go.)

Whoa - Day 4?! Wow. I'm being told to expect to be in the hospital 5-7 days, and expect release to fly home Day 10, barring complications. Here's something: On another forum I connect with someone else from San Diego who went to CC and (via a good friend of his, who had roomed with his surgeon...

Unfortunately for them, we will be squeaky wheels (in a nice way) if we need to be. My wife will be there as my advocate and unless I'm an invalid, I will be my own advocate. I to to a high volume dentist in San Diego. When I first started seeing him 20 years ago I was put off by the way he did...

Hi Katherine. I think the most important thing here for all of us is to have a successful surgery. After watching all of Dr. Svensson's videos and reading many of his studies, and things people had said, I did not expect to meet the life of the party. And given what I'm having done, I was far...

I intend to keep everybody posted. The posts on this forum and others have given me tremendous insight over the years on what to expect. It is my intention to pay it forward, with brutal honesty along the way. Without these forums we all would be doing this in the dark. I pity those who have no...

That's a great and astute question and I just learned the lesson with my latest visit: For all of this time my bicuspid aortic valve was the issue. With this last visit, it appears the mitral valve also has shown signs of starting to leak. The surgeon thinks that is caused from the severity of...

Tissue. The Edwards Perimount 2700. Dr. Svensson made it clear the mechanical will last considerably longer, especially with the composite root graft they will be using, but agreed that at my age (I'll be 68 in June) a tissue valve is fine. Lifespan 10-20 years, but probably on the early side...

No Kimchi for me! And thanks!

After years of sitting patiently in the waiting room, they called my number! Flew to the Cleveland Clinic to meet with Drs. Griffin (the very kind and well-regarded cardiologist) and Svensson (the equally kind and by reputation exceedingly talented surgeon.) I had a battery of tests: Echo...

That's encouraging!

I have been getting to try to get her to look at some pictures and she refuses. I think this appointment will make it more real than the visits with my regular cardiologist. At that point, she'll have to stop putting her fingers in her ears, closing her eyes and humming a song to drown me out. 😬...

As a former biz journalist who was pretexted, not tapped – and who, as a journalist, was sued by the SEC with two other journalists until they realized that was a ridiculously stupid move and quickly dropped it – I love that story! I'm headed to the Cleveland Clinic in a week for a battery of...

Thanks! Hope you're wearing a helmet 🥴

I posted this as a response to another post but realize that in all of my research this is one of the best among the most recent studies about guidelines for all things bicuspid: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6413866/

Hi all, Has anybody had a hemiarch procedure? Just curious how that went and how you are doing. Also, before surgery has anybody been told they had a right-bundle branch block? Again, curious how that impacted things post-surgery. Thanks! Herb

In addition to the very good studies/articles above, I found this one to be very thorough and will likely give you good insight. Enjoy! https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6413866/

All of which raises yet another question: TAVAR (sorry, Pellicle) for replacement of the ascending aorta or even the aortic arch. I am told that when my time comes (and it appears to be fast-approaching) I could be a lucky winner for having the whole shebang done - BAV, root, AA and (drumroll)...

Based on personal experience and the volumes I've read on these forums and others, I would think, as they say...it couldn't hurt! I would love to see a study. Sadly, it probably would not be conclusive and, in the end, would be probably be an indicator for some people. One question I would have...