With her son's wedding approaching, 55-year-old grade school teacher Susan Meyer had a lot to look forward to. Unfortunately, she was feeling too tired to do much celebrating. Meyer had lived with mitral valve stenosis for 15 years, so she was used to feeling less than 100%. But in May of 2005, Meyer could tell something had changed. "I was tired all the time. My heartbeat had always been very irregular, but it was wearing me out more than usual," says Meyer. A visit to the emergency room revealed she had atrial fibrillation, a condition which causes an erratic heartbeat. A cardiac catheterization revealed multiple blood clots in her lungs. Meyer was immediately referred to Ralph Damiano, MD, chief of cardiac surgery at Barnes-Jewish and Washington University School of Medicine. "By the time I saw Meyer she was past the point where medicines could help anymore and the only real option was surgery," says Dr. Damiano. In July of 2005, Dr. Damiano gave Meyer a new mechanical...