Interesting.  The reason I asked is because I cannot find anyone in my group of friends who have had open heart that have had the same procedure.  It would be nice to talk to one.

I have been dealing with specialists since September on these problems.  I have no arterial blockages, so that is the good part, I don't have to have any bypasses.  But the myectomy is where they go in and take out some of the thickened, stiffened tissue on the septum (the wall between the two sections of the heart) and allow my heart to beat more efficiently again.  It is the procedure that this surgeon does all the time and he is supposed to be very expert at it.  From what he said, the trickier part is the replacement of the aortic valve, partly because I am overweight.  He has to put in a larger valve and that means enlarging the "root", whatever that is.  He is concerned about how long I will be on the heart/lung machine, and warned Neil that it would seem like a very long surgery.

I asked what would happen if I decided not to have the surgery (since I am obviously upright and have had no cardiac emergencies).  He said "Well, the things wrong with your heart will never get any better, and can only get worse and worse."

If I were 90, I would just opt to have no surgery, get weaker, and probably fade away, or have a heart attack like my mother did at age 77.  But I am 74, and I would like to have a few more years of traveling, spending time with my grandchildren on our annual "grandchild vacations", going to Spartan football games, etc.  So, in essence, I am taking the challenge and praying that the risks won't outweight the benefits.

Scary stuff.