John was enjoying the retiree life in Florida when a persistent dry cough and shortness of breath started to slow him down. The diagnosis was aortic valve stenosis, whose treatment is often a new aortic valve. Because of John’s overall good health, his doctors recommended open heart surgery.

“I talked to people that had open heart surgery—the maintenance afterward, the hospital time, the downtime—it was too long for me,” says John, a retired New York City fire captain.

He wanted a better option, and found it: transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR. He could have had the procedure done in Florida, but after doing research he chose NYU Langone’s Heart Valve Center.

“I had to go with the best,” he says. “I started feeling better right away. I feel good knowing that the procedure is done and I can live with less shortness of breath.”

“I came in on Wednesday morning, and on Thursday, I walked out of the hospital and went home.”—John, Age 78