Karate Instructor, John Doss, Recovers After Heart Valve Surgery

By Adam Pick on August 18, 2009

Here's a great patient success story about John Doss, a 56-year old Karate instructor from Michigan. Doctor Ali Kafi, Chief of Clinical Cardiothoracic Surgery, from Detroit Medical Center, performed the aortic valve replacement.

During the video, Dr. Ali Kafi references the use of a mini-sternotomy. To give you a visual comparison of a mini-sternotomy incision versus a full sternotomy scar, please consider the pictures below. The first picture shows a patient with a mini-sternotomy.

The second picture shows a patient (that's me) one week after double heart valve replacement. Due to the complex nature of my Ross Procedure, Dr. Starnes was forced to use a median sternotomy. As you can see, there is about a five-inch difference in the size of the incision site.

Also, Dr. Kafi referenced some interesting concepts about heart valve surgery in the video about John Doss. To learn more, simply click any of the hyperlinks below:

Keep on tickin!
Adam

Written by Adam Pick - Patient & Website Founder

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.

Follow 450K

Comments

Leave a Comment

Your message...
Submit

New Posts From Our Community

Pat Williams - Heart Valve Patient

Pat Williams from
Raleigh

test

Meet Pat
Hunter Testing - Heart Valve Patient

Hunter Testing from
Los Angeles

more testing images

Meet Hunter
Maria Santos - Heart Valve Patient

Maria Santos from
Austin, Texas

Test

Meet Maria

Newest Community Post

Pat Williams - Heart Valve Patient

Pat Williams from
Raleigh

test

Meet Pat
Find Heart Valve Surgeons

Find Heart Valve Surgeons

Search 1,500 patient-recommended surgeons

The Patient's Guide

The Patient's Guide

This book has helped over 47,000 patients and caregivers from diagnosis to recovery.

Surgeon Finder

Surgeon Finder

Find and research over 1,500 patient-recommended heart valve surgeons.