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Happy Anniversary Raye! One Year After Heart Valve Replacement!

By Adam Pick on February 19, 2008

I wake up pretty early. Usually no later than 5:30am. Robyn (my wife) stays in bed while I make the coffee. A few minutes later, I'm in my office turning on my computer.

That is when my stitched heart really gets ticking. Why? Well, lately I have been receiving lots and lots and lots of email from folks like you - heart valve surgery patients and caregivers. Some emails are filled with fear. Some emails are filled with questions. Some emails are filled with frustration. And, some emails are filled with inspirational stories like this one...

A few days ago, I received an email all about Raye Gilliamsen. Raye's daughter, Abby, wrote me to share her mother's story. Raye just celebrated her one year anniversary after receiving a new heart valve replacement.

I continued to learn more about Raye's 74 years of life as Abby and I exchanged emails.

As Abby wrote to me about Raye

"My mom and my dad have been married since 1955. She suffered a massive stroke in 1982 that left her speechless and paralyzed on her left side. The doctor's told us then that she would never walk again or talk. She walks! Her speech is not that great though. We play 20-100 questions a lot! She has aphasia and words just don't come out right. She suffered actually 2 or 3 heart attacks, one just before my older sister's wedding (1992) that she could not attend. She wouldn't let my sister postpone the wedding. We went to the hospital all dressed for the wedding. It was a great day!"

That said, "Happy Anniversary Raye!". Glad to hear your heart valve replacement recovery is going well!

Keep on tickin!
Adam

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Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

Adam Pick is a heart valve patient and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. In 2006, Adam founded HeartValveSurgery.com to educate and empower patients. This award-winning website has helped over 10 million people fight heart valve disease. Adam has been featured by the American Heart Association and Medical News Today.

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