This is an image capture of the swirling vortex behind my mitral valve. It looks like a detached chordae (the strings that close the valve, imagine the lines on a parachute) is partially to blame for the massive leakage that is putting a large dent in the efficiency of my heart and making me tired and causing some feeling of tightness. Good news is that these things are fairly routine if you run in surgery circles and the outlook is good. David Tipper (http://
I’m hoping by the end of August the fix will be in place, which it looks like at this point in time will include a cinch belt (“annuloplastic ring”) to help stabilize one chamber, and possibly a new gortex “parachute line” that will replace the detached chordae (TBD, if that is indeed the best way to resolve the issue). After that I’ll have about 2 months to finally empty my inbox, read Murakami’s 1Q84, launch a new personal website, launch a startup, build a new bicycle, rebuild a 1970s Honda motorcycle, and add things to my always growing TODO list. (ok, maybe just the first couple and hang out with my beautiful wife (who has been tremendously helpful and supportive as this thing has really kicked off in the past couple of weeks – including setting up dr. appointments and doing lots of research) and highly entertaining son). The surgeon I have been talking to so far and everyone else has said, “take the pain killers, take the time off you need to recover”, which sounds like a good plan.