Bill's Photos

John Morales  Dammmm Bill looking great im in next week and hope i look as good as you all the best , keep keeping on my friend ….

Rob Sparling  Totally agree, Bill! I had the THA in 2017 and the OHS — even with full sternotomy — was much less painful and inconvenient. You are looking good, my man! 👍

Mary Woods  Thank you for the encouragement - I had a hip replacement a year ago and didn't get much pain, but mitral valve surgery still in the future for me!
You look really well - keep on walking!

John Morales  Congrats Bill , im in next week and hoping to look as good as you , keep , keeping on and all the best in your recovery , prayers and well wishes your way

Louanna Miller  You’re doing great. So glad your on the recovery side. You will be surprised at how much better you will feel in another month or two. Take care of yourself.

Debbie Kelly  Congratulations, Bill! You look great. What was the determining factor as to why you had OHS over TAVR? I am curious because I am in the testing process for TAVR.
Take care!

Bill Grile  Debbie Kelly: i turns out the available TAVR devices were too small for my aortic opening. B i’m actually glad it turned out this way.

Bill Grile  This week Linda and I spent two days at Knight Cardiology Institute on the campus of Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. Monday involved a CT scan, echocardiogram, EKG, labs and an informational hour with Katherine Rajotte, PA-C. Tuesday, we met with cardiology surgeons Drs. Firas Zahr and Danielle Smith. They were both extremely generous with their time and carefully explained the advantages/disadvantages of TAVR vs. open heart surgery. Even with a BCV, I learned I do qualify for TAVR and didn't think I would, so that was a pleasant surprise. OHSU hopes to participate in a BCV/TAVR trial and thinks approval for this may come as early as December 7th. After pondering the plusses and minuses of TAVR, isn't this a no-brainer for me? I'm almost 70 and generally in pretty good shape other than this heart issue. Again, isn't this a no-brainer?

Steve Farthing  Bill - Your reference to open heart surgery sounds like the option was for a traditional sternotomy approach vs TAVR. If they did not present other options for performing OHS, that might be an avenue you would find of interest to investigate and compare to TAVR - such as smaller incisions/ less invasive OHS methods. But TAVR could well win out.

Wanda Mroz  I was offered less invasive and ohs. I chose ohs when it was explained to me that should it become a difficult repair, they would have to cut me open anyway... so I went with conventional ohs. I would ask more questions to make a decision that’s right for you. Trust your gut... that’s what I did and because my mitral valve was a difficult repair it was a good choice for me.

Karen Warren  At 60 I went with TAVR vice OHS. I know I may need another TAVR Valve down the road, but after losing my Mom 90 days following her aortic valve OHS, TAVR was music to my ears. I had conscious sedation and cannot believe how pain free it was. Who knows what science will be around when I need my next TAVR. It has been over a year and I still feel great. Good luck making your decision.