My husband Tom was diagnosed with severe aortic valve stenosis. What does this mean? The aortic valve is normally the size of a nickel, and his valve was the size of the top of a golf tee. Basically, the blood pumping through his heart was the equivalent of taking a garden hose and putting your thumb in front of it and reducing the flow of water or as the surgeon described "it's like driving down the highway riding the brakes". Without getting the necessary blood flow quick enough through his body he was easily fatigued, short of breath or dizzy. Thankfully, Tom found a great surgeon from UChicago Medicince who was able to perform a SAVAR (surgical arotic valve replacement). We are grateful for the advancements in medicine to treat and restore Tom's heart.