Almost every year since I was born, I have gone to see a cardiologist. I was one of the 1% of all births that have congenital heart defects. Some would say that is unlucky, however, I look at it that my issue was relatively mild compared to some of the babies born with more severe cases. I was born with a Bi-Cuspid valve, which is just like it sounds, my Aortic valve had two leaflets, instead of three.
For the first 47 years of my life, I really had no restrictions. The only thing I was told not to do was lift heavy weights (unlike Arnold Schwartzenegger, who has the same condition, I listened to my Dr’s).
On my Birthday in 2023 I went for my annual heart checkup. As in years past, I saw the echocardiographer who captured the images of my heart and then passed the results to my Cardiologist. When my cardiologist came in, I was expecting him to say the same thing he had in so many years past, which was “nothings change, see you next year”. Except this time when I asked him, “It’s still the same, right?”, his reply was “no, it’s gotten worse.”
Long story short, time had won, as it always does. The valve and aorta would need to be replaced, and it would also involve my pulmonary valve too. It was definitely scary knowing that I would have to go through major surgery in which they had to saw open my chest and basically reconfigure my heart.
I was able to find a Heart Surgeon in NYC that specialized in this procedure. To steal a line from David Letterman, “he was like Michaelangelo with a bone saw.” By the time of the surgery, although I was still nervous, I had a lot of faith in the Doctors and the plan. The recovery wasn’t fun, but luckily it was pretty short. Within two weeks I was able to walk without being fatigued, and after 12 weeks, I was able to run again.
I am now almost three years out from that surgery and have no restrictions. I am lucky that I work for a good company, and basically everything was covered. I also think of the babies that are born with congenital heart defects and are subjected to the same types of surgeries that I had, however three and four times over.
Because of this, I am participating in the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk on Sunday June 7th at SUNY Albany. I would ask, if you are able, to please donate to below to the American Heart Association. Anything that you can give is greatly appreciated.