My Aortic Adventure

Sunset in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Travel is an important part of my life. I remember as a kid thinking of what it would be like to see different parts of the world. This may have started during a 6th grade trip to New York City and Ellis Island, but at some point, I knew I wanted to explore as many places as I could.  I was excited to get out and see different countries and cultures, and this desire to travel has fueled most of my decisions since.   When I was young, I had a misconception of travel. I believed it was something reserved for the "rich people," since I did not personally know anyone who had widely traveled. I thought that seeing foreign countries was an experience that a person had to work a lifetime to save up for. Thinking back on this now, it seems silly.  A photo of me holding the rope for a climbing partner in British Columbia. With my desire to travel, I was unsure of how this would interact with my life on anticoagulants and after receiving a heart s

This question loomed over me for months before surgery.  Here is what I have learned in the years since. A photo of me in Washington Pass about two years after surgery Heart surgery undoubtedly changes a person's life. In 2016, when being rolled into the operating room to replace a faulty Aortic Valve, I did not know the extent of this change.  A few people told me stories of what it was like to live with a mechanical valve.  The main focus of my interest in these stories was to learn what it would be like to live life on "blood thinners" (anticoagulants), since this was one of my biggest concerns about choosing a mechanical heart valve. The issue, though, was that the people I talked to did not live their life similar to the way I want to live mine, so their antidotes were not fully helpful.  Sometime bruises 'appear' after a long day of climbing. They had "normal" lives, where risk is not part of the day-to-day experience.   Sure, some of the people I