Brian, who turns 55 in July, recently had angioplasty, an echocardiogram and a CT scan which diagnosed and confirmed his need for open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve with a mechanical valve and repair his aortic root and ascending aorta. He is scheduled for open-heart surgery on March 5th with Dr. DeSimone at DHMC. Brian apparently was born with a bicuspid aortic valve which is now severely stenosed. He has experienced significant shortness of breath and other symptoms for some time that finally got bad enough for him to seek treatment (Divine Intervention)!
While anticipating major heart surgery is certainly anxiety-provoking, we have been assured by people we trust that there is every reason to believe this surgery will be successful and his prognosis is for a full recovery and return to all his previous activities. We are very grateful that he is in the skilled hands of Dr. DeSimone and the entire Cardiac team at DHMC and anticipate that once he has recovered, he will feel better than he has in years.
We will use this venue to keep you all updated. If you accept our email invitation to Caring Bridge, you will automatically receive our updates and you can send us and/or Brian your good wishes for his successful surgery and recovery. We are grateful for the help and support of our friends and family and we know and appreciate that Brian is in your prayers. We also know how much it will mean to Brian to have you be part of Team Brian! Thank you to each and every one of you for your support, love, and prayers.
Special thanks go to sister-in-law, Bobbe, for setting up this Caring Bridge site for us and to our friends: Laura who researched and sent us medical information that helped us understand the problem and the fixes, and Dr. Dan for his help in getting Brian set up with Dr. DeSimone so quickly after his testing was done and his explanations and reassurances.
Sincerely, Jan & Selden
PS Please don’t feel any pressure on our account to respond to the request from Caring Bridge for donations to their site.
