J
jayaresq
Hello again. I?m Jim. I'm having AVR surgery on July 18, 2005, by Dr. Alfredo Trento at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. I found out I needed AVR about six weeks ago and this website has been incredibly inspirational and a fountain of information. Thank you all again.
I have read just about everything and made a few posts and was asked to post "my story." Here goes. I am a 47-year-old trial attorney and the father of my precious five-year-old daughter, Amanda. I share custody of Amanda with her mother (and soon-to-be ex-wife), who lives only a few miles away. We separated in 2002. Bad marriage, but so far good co-parents and our daughter Amanda is amazing.
As life would have it, my divorce will, at long last, probably become final this week, only days before my OHS. Nevertheless, I am truly blessed, because since my girlfriend Nathalie has come into my life, I have never been happier. Now, as ever, she is very supportive.
Ten years ago, I left a big law firm and started my solo practice. I take pride in my work and work very hard (too hard for the ex-wife). My practice has flourished and has now grown to five attorneys, plus more staff. I am grateful, but more than anything, I love to be in trial.
I have always been relatively healthy. Sure, I could lose a few pounds. I have known I have a heart murmur for more than twenty years. However, after a routine annual physical a couple of years ago, I was referred to my present cardiologist. He diagnosed a congenitally bicuspid aortic valve and predicted that AVR was most likely 15 years out.
So, life, with its ups and downs, was moving right along and going pretty well. I was preparing to start trial in one of the most significant cases I have ever handled. Despite that, I had found the time to devote to Amanda that didn?t exist during my marriage. (This kind of tangent would require a much longer story.)
In February, 2005, jury selection began in trial. My client is a well-known fitness celebrity who became wealthy through the infomercial industry. Unfortunately, his newfound riches attracted a lot of unsavory characters. His accountant, pretending to be an agent, convinced my client to hand over more than ten million dollars of illegal fees. My client had hired a prominent 600-lawyer national law firm to get his money back. Instead, the law firm, also smelling a big wallet, charged my client almost a half-million dollars in attorney?s fees and still blew the statute of limitations! My client?s right to recover the money was lost. The big law firm, which had promised in writing to file my client?s claim, but didn?t, still asked for payment of more fees. The trial I was about to begin was for fraud and malpractice against the big law firm to recover the lost $10 million agent?s fee, plus the wasted attorney?s fees. The big firm counter-sued for $46,000 of remaining unpaid fees.
One night, during the jury selection phase, I began experiencing unusual symptoms. Granted, I was under a lot of stress. Still, something felt different than just regular jury trial stress. Not being a doctor, I associated my symptoms with medical issues relating to my head. I didn?t suspect critical stenosis of my aortic valve and a probable embolic event, conditions about which I am now aware. Nathalie and I agreed that I had to focus on the trial first, but get myself examined after the trial was over.
Symptoms aside, the trial was brutal. I have always wondered why high-stakes business disputes are referred to as ?civil? litigation. It is anything but civil. We were seeking punitive damages. Still, on the eve of opening arguments, Defendants offered just fifty cents (!) to settle the case.
Cutting to the chase, the jury saw it our way. They awarded my client $14 million in compensatory damages, including interest, and another $15 million in punitive damages against the law firm! I can?t even begin to describe that moment. Almost immediately, the defendants filed an appeal. The same week I saw my neurologist.
My neurologist referred me to my cardiologist and an echocardiogram, plus other tests, confirmed my present diagnosis and critical stenosis (0.6 cm.) My cardiologist and both surgeons I interviewed recommended surgery in 60 days. So, July 18 is about the end of that 60-day period.
When I initially found out, I was frightened and angry and even overwhelmed by the significance of the decisions I needed to make. Through a link on the On-x website, I found valvereplacement.com, which has proved to be my most practical and informative resource (Have I said thank you recently?). After weighing my options and all the obvious and personal factors, I have settled upon a Carpentier-Edwards 3000fx valve. I am not looking forward to the scar, or the tube, or being away from my practice as long as it takes. Nevertheless, I have come to think of my sudden symptoms during trial and now, AVR, as a blessing in disguise and a real chance to save and prolong my life.
I am also not looking forward to telling Amanda. As of this writing, I still haven?t. She is five and sensitive and I wonder what temporary impact, if any, my AVR will have on our relationship. I think I?ll try to make it like no big deal over a pizza on Saturday. God forbid I get an unexpectedly bad result, that?s not what she?ll remember.
For all of you who are still reading after all of this rambling, thank you for your sharing of openness and your welcome. Nathalie is helping me type this. I?ll continue to log on til next Monday, but next week, I?ll ask her to post an update if I can?t.
I have read just about everything and made a few posts and was asked to post "my story." Here goes. I am a 47-year-old trial attorney and the father of my precious five-year-old daughter, Amanda. I share custody of Amanda with her mother (and soon-to-be ex-wife), who lives only a few miles away. We separated in 2002. Bad marriage, but so far good co-parents and our daughter Amanda is amazing.
As life would have it, my divorce will, at long last, probably become final this week, only days before my OHS. Nevertheless, I am truly blessed, because since my girlfriend Nathalie has come into my life, I have never been happier. Now, as ever, she is very supportive.
Ten years ago, I left a big law firm and started my solo practice. I take pride in my work and work very hard (too hard for the ex-wife). My practice has flourished and has now grown to five attorneys, plus more staff. I am grateful, but more than anything, I love to be in trial.
I have always been relatively healthy. Sure, I could lose a few pounds. I have known I have a heart murmur for more than twenty years. However, after a routine annual physical a couple of years ago, I was referred to my present cardiologist. He diagnosed a congenitally bicuspid aortic valve and predicted that AVR was most likely 15 years out.
So, life, with its ups and downs, was moving right along and going pretty well. I was preparing to start trial in one of the most significant cases I have ever handled. Despite that, I had found the time to devote to Amanda that didn?t exist during my marriage. (This kind of tangent would require a much longer story.)
In February, 2005, jury selection began in trial. My client is a well-known fitness celebrity who became wealthy through the infomercial industry. Unfortunately, his newfound riches attracted a lot of unsavory characters. His accountant, pretending to be an agent, convinced my client to hand over more than ten million dollars of illegal fees. My client had hired a prominent 600-lawyer national law firm to get his money back. Instead, the law firm, also smelling a big wallet, charged my client almost a half-million dollars in attorney?s fees and still blew the statute of limitations! My client?s right to recover the money was lost. The big law firm, which had promised in writing to file my client?s claim, but didn?t, still asked for payment of more fees. The trial I was about to begin was for fraud and malpractice against the big law firm to recover the lost $10 million agent?s fee, plus the wasted attorney?s fees. The big firm counter-sued for $46,000 of remaining unpaid fees.
One night, during the jury selection phase, I began experiencing unusual symptoms. Granted, I was under a lot of stress. Still, something felt different than just regular jury trial stress. Not being a doctor, I associated my symptoms with medical issues relating to my head. I didn?t suspect critical stenosis of my aortic valve and a probable embolic event, conditions about which I am now aware. Nathalie and I agreed that I had to focus on the trial first, but get myself examined after the trial was over.
Symptoms aside, the trial was brutal. I have always wondered why high-stakes business disputes are referred to as ?civil? litigation. It is anything but civil. We were seeking punitive damages. Still, on the eve of opening arguments, Defendants offered just fifty cents (!) to settle the case.
Cutting to the chase, the jury saw it our way. They awarded my client $14 million in compensatory damages, including interest, and another $15 million in punitive damages against the law firm! I can?t even begin to describe that moment. Almost immediately, the defendants filed an appeal. The same week I saw my neurologist.
My neurologist referred me to my cardiologist and an echocardiogram, plus other tests, confirmed my present diagnosis and critical stenosis (0.6 cm.) My cardiologist and both surgeons I interviewed recommended surgery in 60 days. So, July 18 is about the end of that 60-day period.
When I initially found out, I was frightened and angry and even overwhelmed by the significance of the decisions I needed to make. Through a link on the On-x website, I found valvereplacement.com, which has proved to be my most practical and informative resource (Have I said thank you recently?). After weighing my options and all the obvious and personal factors, I have settled upon a Carpentier-Edwards 3000fx valve. I am not looking forward to the scar, or the tube, or being away from my practice as long as it takes. Nevertheless, I have come to think of my sudden symptoms during trial and now, AVR, as a blessing in disguise and a real chance to save and prolong my life.
I am also not looking forward to telling Amanda. As of this writing, I still haven?t. She is five and sensitive and I wonder what temporary impact, if any, my AVR will have on our relationship. I think I?ll try to make it like no big deal over a pizza on Saturday. God forbid I get an unexpectedly bad result, that?s not what she?ll remember.
For all of you who are still reading after all of this rambling, thank you for your sharing of openness and your welcome. Nathalie is helping me type this. I?ll continue to log on til next Monday, but next week, I?ll ask her to post an update if I can?t.
Glad you found this website. I am pretty new myself. I found out in March about my bicuspid aortic valve, and today I am almost 2 weeks post-op! 
