Originally Posted by indyfabz

The surgery was in 1990, when I was 25. I was born with a congenital defect. A hole between my ventricles. That cause my septum to sag and my aortic valve to leak. Leakage was very minor at the time, but I was told that as I got older, I would likely need surgery repair or place the valve. General prediction was around age 30-35. It happened sooner, likely because I was exercising so much. (I had lost 90 lbs. in 9 months in '86-'87, during my senior year of college, solely through diet change and cycling. Oh, the irony.) Had it done before my 3rd year of law school. Made a deal with the surgeon that if he thought he could get 20-25 years or so out of the existing valve he would repair rather than replace because there was something to keeping someone so young off blood thinners for the rest of his life. As such, I didn't know what I would wake up with.

After 7 weeks, I was told I could do a relatively light workout on the trainer. I was pretty scared and kept the phone on the floor by the front wheel in case I had to call 9-1-1.

Hopefully, my valve will last the rest of my life.