About Me

My name is Bob and I am a climber and English teacher living in Denver Colorado.  I am originally from Pennsylvania, but made the transition to Colorado in 2013 to be in the mountains.
Climbing The Incredible Hulk in the Eastern Sierra, CA.
I am usually pretty active: rock climbing 2-3 times a week and nearly every weekend.  Although I live in the city, I spend as much time as possible camping in beautiful natural areas.  Being in the woods is the way I stay sane and happy.
Climbing in the winter near Long's Peak, CO

In 2016, I received a new Aortic Valve and Aortic Stem.  This was a surgical procedure was looming over me since birth, and I have been lucky enough to be able to put it off for 27 years.  I got this fancy new hardware on June 1, 2016.  This process went smoother than I could have ever imagined due to my preparation, pre-surgery knowledge and research, and the amazing support team I am surrounded with. 

Since surgery, I have continued climbing.  In 2019, I spent 3 days climbing "The Nose" route of El Capitan.  I have also climbed Mt. Rainier in Washington, both before and after surgery, as well as many other rock and alpine adventures.


I love sharing my experience and knowledge, so please feel free to reach out.



Contact Information:
Email: AorticAdventure@gmail.com
Instagram: @Aortic_Adventure





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Mentally Preparing for Surgery

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A ny surgery can cause distress.     We often worry about how our bodies will be altered and how comparably they will function after an operation. Recovery times may also cause us to worry about what we will do with our downtime and how we will stay sane during a time when we might not be able to do the activities that make us happy. For the past decade, I have been an avid rock climber with such a strong passion for my sport that it drives every life decision I make. During that decade, I have also had 3 major surgeries including a heart surgery and one ACL replacement (I had 2 other ACLs replaced in the previous decade). The thing that both of these procedures had in common was that they took me away from my passion and forced me to see who I am when I can’t be who I have been.     My heart surgery required 5 weeks of heavy restriction followed by another year of building back to my pre-surgery abilities. My ACL had a very similar timeline, which I am just finishing up as I write thi
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My Heart History When I was born, there was a complication.  My Aorta valve, the one responsible for pumping oxygenated blood from my heart into my body, was too narrow.  In fact, it was so narrow that I needed an emergency surgery to keep me alive.  Luckily, doctors knew what to do.  They placed a flexible tube into my femoral artery, traced it all of he way to my heart, stuck a balloon into the narrow valve, inflated the balloon, and widened the narrowing enough to keep me alive.  This is called a  Balloon Valvuloplasty .  One cannot make this kind of thing up. This emergency surgery was meant to last me until I was fully grown, at which point I would need my Aortic Valve replaced. So I waited.  I had yearly check-ups until I was 18, the point when docs said I would need a replacement valve.  18 years old came and went and the doctors decided that 21 was my new goal.  I made it to 21 years of age with no issue so we decided to keep waiting.  This game continued until last ye
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What It's Like Living with the Noise of a Mechanical Ticker

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Before having my Aortic Valve replaced, I was curious about living with the noise of a mechanical heart valve ticking away in my chest 24 hours a day for the rest of my life.  Would the ticking noise drive me crazy? In fact, this questions guided my decision making when choosing a valve.  I knew that of the mechanical valve options, the St. Jude was slightly louder than the On-X valve.  Although this was a very small consideration overall, it was definitely on the list of positives for making my valve selection.   A stock photo of the On-X Valve Now that I have had a mechanical valve ticking away in my chest for the last 4 years, I can say with some authority that it has only made life better!  For the most part, the noise from the valve is something that I do not pay attention to.  It easily blends into the background noise of the day.   So when do I hear it? As I sit in a quiet room to write this post, especially after consuming a bowl of ice cream, I can hear the valve opening an
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