Dear Dr. Adams,

I want you to know how grateful I am to have found you to do the surgery on my heart. It is not the kind of decision anyone would want to make a mistake with. And I certainly made the right decision in asking you to operate.

In our very first conversation on the phone, you described the surgery as very straightforward. You repeated those words the first time we met face to face. You inspired a lot of confidence when you said that. But you were much too modest. There is nothing straightforward about reconfiguring the leaflets of a mitral valve, implanting a new annulus, and suturing in new chordae the width of a thread. If it were as simple as you made it sound, I would not have traveled 1200 miles to get it done.

I remember looking at my echocardiograms over the last thirty plus years and seeing my mitral valve flailing around. When Rebecca, who did my post surgical echo showed me my reconstructed mitral, I was stunned and delighted. It functioned like part of a Swiss watch. I knew then that the ordeal of open-heart surgery was all worthwhile.

I was and still am impressed by the dedication of your associates and staff. You all demonstrated that you understood that inside every patient is a person. That compassion meant a great deal to me, and went a long way to accelerating my recovery.

Although I would never want to repeat the experience, I will be forever thankful that I found a surgeon as gifted as you to get me through it.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Raymond B.