On a cold February 18, 1999, morning in Iowa, I went to the acute care to see if I could get something for a sever cough/cold. I saw a physician assistant and he wanted me to have a x-ray to make sure I did not have pneumonia. So of course I had the x-ray and came back to see the PA and he told me well you don't have pneumonia but you have a large aneursym on your ascending aorta, you need to see a cardiologist right away.
So the next day I saw the surgical cardiologist, had a MRI and came back and he looked at me an said, "Well you have 5.5 cm aneursym on your ascending aorta and I can not help you" Well I must have turned white and looked at my wife and thought my world was about to crumble. But, he went on to say but I know where they can help you at that was at the Mayo Hospital, Rochester, Minnesota.
I was sent there the following week. I went in on Thursday morning and had the operation. They removed the aortic valve, replaced it with a new St. Jude Mechanical valve and used a DACRON slip to repair the aneursym. Total stay in the hospital was 7 days.
Twelve weeks later I went back to work. An to this date I haven't changed my Coumadin since leaving the hospital. Still ticking in Illinois, enjoying life and all it has to offer