Unlocking the Mysteries - BAV and TAD September Awareness 2018

Still struggling with mysteries of the heart
  202 years since its invention,
 the stethoscope remains an important device
 for probing mysteries of the heart
   

"The practice of medicine is the struggle to unlock the mysteries within the body, to understand them in the hope of applying treatments to save life...."

This is my very own definition for the practice of medicine, reflective of the many years I have lived with struggling to understand and thwart BAV and TAD. I said this to a beloved cardiologist last year. He has been practicing for a very long time, and he did not disagree with me.

No one will ever convince me it is not a struggle. On the surface, what is known today was known 100 years ago. Do we have treatments now? Yes, but there is such a struggle to know what is happening, when and how to apply treatment, and will the treatment work . . . .?!

Too many times, there is no clear understanding. 

Too many times, there is suffering, injury, death. 

I was with one of our BAF board members recently for a consult with a new doctor. He remarked with astonishment that her medical records are a saga that rivals the novel War and Peace! So many different specialties, all searching for keys to understand her. We can only hope this particular specialist will be successful with his chapter of her story!

As September begins, I am looking forward to traveling to the University of Ottawa later this month, to visit the  Molecular Genetics and Cardiac Regeneration Laboratory . Dedicated to studying congenital heart defects, about half of their work is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries surrounding bicuspid aortic valves. They are co-located with the University's medical school and the Ottawa hospital. I am so grateful to be welcomed by them in our shared quest, our search for answers.

I invite you to share my visit to the University of Ottawa. Through this blog, I will have pictures, information, and stories to share. One thing I already know, I will be with those intensely focused on unlocking mysteries about the hearts and entire bodies of those born with BAV, and their trileaflet aortic valve family members too. I will be with those who understand the quest, the struggle, and are up for the challenge of this fight for life.

This September, 

there is no quest more worthy,

 no struggle more worthwhile,

 than seeking to unlock the mysteries

of BAV and TAD in our families,

Creating a Climate of Hope,

~ Arlys Velebir

Bicuspid Aortic Foundation