Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/447803
Health and Wellness Magazine • 29 Successful Equation "I knew I was fortunate timing-wise," Galasso says of the launching of HealthONE's Rocky Mountain Aneurysm and Bicuspid Aortic Valve program. Galasso underwent aortic root aneurysm replacement with heart surgeon and program director Dr. Jason Sperling at The Medical Center of Aurora this fall. Now back to his life, which includes a wife, twin 6-year- olds and a mortgage-business career, Galasso wants other patients to know: With the expert medical care the new program provides, they can live a good, full life with BAV. Although BAVs recently came to Coloradoans' attention when Broncos Coach John Fox's diagnosis became public, the condition and its potential seriousness are not well- known, Sperling says. "Laypersons, and even many doctors, don't fully understand the implications of BAV disease," says Sperling, who believes that BAVs are even more common than the literature suggests (about 1 in 50 people in the general population). Yet preventing negative outcomes through specialized education and surveillance is possible, he says. Even though Angelo Galasso underwent open-heart surgery this fall, the 39-year-old Parker resident considers himself lucky. Unlike many people with his common congenital heart anomaly, doctors spotted his bicuspid aortic valve at birth, allowing him to live heart-smart and under a cardiologist's watchful eye. And when he suddenly felt ill this summer and learned his time had come for the major life-preserving surgery, Galasso's doctor revealed another stroke of luck: A special program focused on his condition had just opened up outside his backdoor. detection Plus surveillance can equal Healthy Lives for BaV Patients Angelo Galasso, father of twins Anthony and Sophia, 6, was born with a bicuspid aortic valve, an anomaly that often waits until later years to make itself known. Cardiac surgeon, Dr. Jason Sperling