About Me (In My Own Words)
Jim was born with a heart murmur. In his youth he was told not to worry as is was a benign thing to have a murmur. It was discovered in 2017 that he had a bicuspid aortic valve. It was at that time he was referred to Dr. Joshi, our cardiologist. An Echo was performed and at that time it was confirmed his valved was severely calcified; however, they monitored him up until late 2018 when they said it was time for surgery.
We were sent to Dr. Richard Kaplan who operates out of Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento as well as Mercy San Juan, where Jim’s surgery was performed. We chose the bovine valve as Jim is in great overall health, was 56 at the time, and is the owner/operator of our construction company. We felt it was a better choice so that he would not have to be on blood thinners.
The operation went well and he was back home after 4 days. He was initially placed on three medications. One was a blood thinner (temporary only), a blood pressure medication and a beta blocker. Ultimately, our cardiologist removed him from those medications because they were causing him adverse reactions. It took Jim some time to adjust and heal from the surgery. He has never had any major health issues so this was a big journey for the both of us.
Over time Jim got stronger and went back to work with our construction company. He had one episode of Afib in 2020 and Jim then had to be on blood thinners for a little over a year. After that they took him off since he was doing well.
Jim’s annual follow-up came in March of 2022 with his Echo. The Echo showed calcium build up on the bovine valve already. It was then recommended he go get a CT. The CT was just performed on 5/13 and we now are scheduled for 5/19 to go over those results. So that’s where we are at right now.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Folsom, CA
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My surgery date is:
March 26, 2019
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My surgeon is:
Dr. Richard Kaplan
