In early 2023, Lane Howard, wife of consumer advocate Clark Howard, noticed he was constantly exhausted and looked a pallid gray.
Worried, she convinced him to check with a cardiologist, who proffered bad news: Howard had a failing aortic valve in his heart that could kill him in a year or less. He needed a replacement.
Fortunately, Dr. Vinod Thourani at Piedmont Hospital offered him an experimental method that did not involve opening up his chest. On Dec. 6, 2023, Howard had aortic valve replacement surgery. It worked. He was up and walking that night and was back to work full time within a month…