Well it has been 8 months since my Mitral Valve re-op and repair of my Tricuspid Valve, and a year since meeting the incomparable Dr. David H. Adams.

Around this time last year, I was undergoing a series of test to determine if I needed a re-op on my Mitral Valve. The news came and it was so surreal. Overwhelmed but most of all scared, my cardiologist took one look at me and advised me to have my surgery at Mt. Sinai, and that Dr. David H. Adams would perform the surgery with his world-renown team.

All I could think of at that moment was how twenty one years ago I made it through my first surgery at 28. I was young, strong and feared nothing. Now at 49, I was extremely vulnerable and all I wanted was to celebrate my 50th birthday with my family and friends.

On April 2, 2009 at 7:00 pm my friend and confidante Andi V., Dr. Adams, Dr. Anyanwu and I sat and discussed timing and a course of action for my surgery. This was like no other meeting as I would be making a choice to extend the quality of my life for however long possible.

Drs. Adams and Anyanwu spoke to me with the utmost respect, professionalism and ease. For awhile there, I lost myself as we were all talking like we had been friends for years. They reminisced about the intricate surgeries they worked on and I, talked about my 29 year battle with valve disease. It was exciting to listen to them. Dr. Adams was enthusiastic and excited as only a doctor could be about a re-op when told who my surgeon was back in 1988. Seeing Dr. Adams excited made me excited as well, as I knew I was going to be part of something special and I was going to get better. At the end of our meeting, Dr. Adams reassured me that I would be at my 50th birthday party.

Dr. Adams, you are an extraordinary man with the gift of healing in your hands. I shall never forget you, Dr. Anyanwu, Dr. Akujuo, Joel, and all the nurses which I knew many of them by their first names by the end of my stay. (Lol)

Thank you all so very much for giving me a second lease on life.

So ever grateful,

Diane P.