Round 2, Ross on July 2nd
Like many others on these forums… born with a bicuspid aortic valve. The original hardware was replaced with a porcine valve in 2019. I had just turned 50. I wish I’d taken more time to really think through my options back then. I’ve always kept a very active lifestyle and had been regularly running at least two marathons a year plus numerous half marathons. I even ran a half marathon one week before the scheduled surgery. That level of cardiac fitness was fantastic for my recovery, but the downside was that I burned through that valve in about 6 years. Back in March an echo confirmed something was seriously wrong, most likely one of the leaflets has essentially broken. “Severe Aortic Insufficiency” is never something you want to see in a post procedure evaluation. If I’d known I would only get 6 years out of it, I would have seriously considered the mechanical valve. But back then, my surgeon assured me I would get at least 12–15.
I was all set to do the mechanical valve (OnX) when I first heard about the Ross procedure. It’s certainly not for everybody, and like any choice, it comes with pros and cons. After consulting with my local cardiologist and three different surgeons I finally made the decision to move forward with the Ross procedure. Yes, the lifetime of anticoagulants did play a part in my decision. The most important aspect though is that I am currently 57 years old and otherwise in very good health. If I’m fortunate enough to get 20–25 years out of the Ross procedure, a re-intervention at that point could be done with a TAVR. If I only got 20–25 years out of a mechanical valve, it would be full open heart again to replace it and I really don’t want to do that when I’m in my early 80s. As part of my lengthy conversation with my surgeon, he also pointed out that there are trials for even newer TAVR techniques, and materials underway. The options will just keep getting better in the years to come.
I suppose I don’t really have a question to ask of the group, but I would love to hear from other people, roughly in my age bracket who are also distance runners. What made you choose one option over the other?
I also want to say this for anybody going through their first round of surgery. Yes, I know there’s a lot of anxiety leading up to it. Nothing I can say will ever fully reassure you, but trust in your surgeons and know that much better things are on the other side. 😊