Adam's Heart Valve Surgery Blog – Page 13

Dear Patients and Friends,

I’m getting excellent questions about the newly announced “3rd dose” and “booster shot” of the COVID-19 vaccine. So… With the help of Dr. Craig Smith, the Surgeon-in-Chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, I just posted a new “Doctor Q&A” to help educate our community.

Click here to see “COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Should Heart Valve Patients Get a 3rd Dose or Booster Shot?”

Keep on tickin!
Adam

There’s no doubt about it.  What I love most about HeartValveSurgery.com is the special opportunity to meet and help patients from all over the world.

For example…  I was very fortunate to recently connect with Tom Everson from Anaheim, California.  Tom was diagnosed with aortic stenosis and an aortic aneurysm. During our exchange, Tom asked several great questions about surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR), transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), aortic root replacement, cardiac surgeons and hospitals.

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On behalf of our patient community… Many thanks to Drs. Badhwar, Chikwe, El-Hamamsy, Khan, Shemin and Stelzer for showing their wonderful support of HeartValveSurgery.com. As you can see below, each of these heart valve experts is wearing our new scrub caps around their hospitals.

Here’s Dr. Vinay Badhwar, the Executive Chair of WVU Medicine Heart & Vascular Institute in Morgantown, West Virginia.

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Together, we have seen a lot of great heart valve animations and videos over the years. I have to admit… The 3D animation of the heart beating below could be one of the best. The animation really provides a complete context of the heart beating, the heart valves opening and the heart valves closing.

The only thing missing in this animation is one of the heart valves. Can you identify the heart valve that is hidden?

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It is with a BIG smile on my face that I am posting these words.

Thanks to your support of HeartValveSurgery.com, I am happy to share that Traver just arrived home in Uganda after his complex cardiac surgery in Israel!!!  Woo-Whoo!!! Yay!!!! Mission accomplished!!!!

I just received the following pictures.  Here is Traver at home with his family in their Ugandan village.

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[July 6 Update: You can now watch or download the free eBook of “SAVR vs. TAVR: What Should Patients Know?” at this link.]

I’m excited to announce that our LIVE and FREE patient education events continue this Thursday, July 1, with a special webinar, “Surgical vs. Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: What Should Patients Know?” Featured speakers include Dr. Charles Davidson, Professor of Cardiology, and Dr. Chris Malaisrie, Professor of Cardiac Surgery, at Northwestern Medicine. This one-hour webinar will start at 5pm CST.

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The use of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) devices for the treatment of aortic stenosis has soared in recent years.

Prior to COVID-19… TAVR devices were growing at double-digit compounded annual growth rates as sales grew to over $2 billion worldwide in 2019, according to Medical Device Network. At HeartValveSurgery.com, patient interest in educational content – exclusively about TAVR – jumped 627% across our servers from 2019 to 2020.

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I’m a bit addicted to our Peloton.

This next-gen athletic gear has completely transformed my approach to fitness. I feel great. I have more energy. Thankfully, as someone who has struggled with insomnia, I now sleep like a baby. And, I’ve unexpectedly lost 12 pounds.

One of the fun parts of riding a Peloton is when an instructor sends a live “shout-out” to a community member during class.  So far, I’ve been fortunate to score shout-outs from Robin Arzon and Jess King.

I’m happy to share that on my recent 800th ride, I got a shout-out from the one-and-only Alex Toussaint. As you may already know, Alex is an extremely motivational coach who inspires students with uplifting catch phrases (Feel Good! Look Good! Do Better!), innovative classes (e.g., the Last Dance and Ride to Greatness) and honest perspectives on the challenges we all face on a day-to-day basis.

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Yes!!! I have an update about Traver!!!

As you might recall… In January, the HeartValveSurgery.com community sponsored the much-needed surgery of Traver, a courageous 2-year old boy from a small village in Uganda, who was suffering from a life-threatening form of heart disease. 

Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, Traver’s surgery was delayed by several months. Watch the video below to see Traver’s latest update!

 
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Why is the SUMMIT Clinical Trial such a big deal for millions of mitral valve patients who have limited treatment options?

Watch this educational video to learn about the new SUMMIT Clinical Trial that will evaluate the Tendyne™ Mitral Valve System that replaces the patient’s defective mitral valve without an incision to the patient’s sternum. The Tendyne™ therapy is a minimally-invasive alternative to open-heart surgery that does not require the patient to be on the heart-lung machine.

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Dear Patients & Friends,

This is unexpected!!!

I am happy and honored to announce that HeartValveSurgery.com just achieved the #1 ranking on Feedspot’s Top 60 Heart Websites!!!

 
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[Update: With over 600 patient registrations, the “5 Myths of Heart Valve Surgery” webinar was fantastic. You can now watch the “5 Myths of Heart Valve Surgery” webinar video or download the free eBook at this link.]

I’m excited to announce that our LIVE and FREE patient education events continue today, Thursday, May 20, with a special webinar, “5 Myths of Heart Valve Surgery”. The featured speaker for this event is Dr. Marc Gerdisch, Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Franciscan Health, who has performed over 4,000 heart valve operations.  The one-hour webinar will start at 6pm EST.

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On behalf of our global heart valve community, I want to thank Medtronic, one of the world’s largest medical companies and a leading heart valve manufacturer, for the special invitation to speak at the upcoming American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session & Expo!!!

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Many, many, many thanks to Josh Nowack for sending me this wonderful “I’m Back” recovery t-shirt!

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I am beyond happy to share that Ari Mintzer, 46, just had a successful aortic valve re-operation at the Cleveland Clinic on Tuesday. So you know, Ari needed a “re-do” because his 14-year old tissue valve was failing from aortic stenosis and regurgitation.

Dr. Eric Roselli & Ari Mintzer

 
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I just received a great question from Linda about the recurrence of mitral regurgitation, a leaky heart valve, and calcification after mitral valve repair surgery. In her note to me, Linda asked, “I had mitral valve repair about 2 years ago and now I’ve developed regurgitation again. Also part of the valve is calcified. I am curious if this is common?”

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Yes!  We have a new surgery update to share about Traver!

 
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Unexpected!

After giving away our new HeartValveSurgery.com hats, I was asked by Dr. Allan Stewart if it was possible to make a “HVS scrub cap” for the doctors in our community.  I thought it was a great idea. So, I contacted Griselda – my local embroidery guru – to see if she could make an HVS scrub cap.  

Me (Adam) with Griselda (Lur Embroidery Owner)

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Why is the REPAIR MR Clinical Trial such a big deal for millions of heart disease patients with mitral valve regurgitation?

Watch this educational video to learn about the REPAIR MR Clinical Trial that will evaluate the minimally-invasive Abbott MitraClip™ Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair System for mitral regurgitation patients.

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Holy Moly!

Over at our Facebook page… Michael Morrison’s “Smiling Scar Selfie” has gone viral. In just three days, Michael’s picture inspired over 7,300 reactions (likes, wows, loves), 1,000+ patient comments, and more than 300 timeline shares.

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