For most people, undergoing three open-heart surgeries would be enough to discourage strenuous physical activity. For 46-year-old competitive bodybuilder Jeremy Braud, however, the prospect of returning to the gym was among his greatest motivations for undergoing a complex operation at Jefferson Health.
Born with a congenital heart defect that required surgery before he could walk, Braud spent much of his life knowing that another major operation was inevitable. When his aortic valve began failing, he sought a treatment that would do more than keep him alive. He wanted to preserve the active lifestyle that had helped define him for decades.
His search led him to Dr. Joseph Bavaria, a cardiac surgeon at Jefferson Health who specializes in a complex operation known as the Ross procedure.
The surgery involved replacing Braud’s failing aortic valve with his own pulmonary valve, implanting a donor valve in its place and repairing an aneurysm in his ascending aorta. The nearly 12-hour operation was further complicated by scar tissue from two previous heart surgeries.
Twelve weeks later, Braud was back in the gym.
“The gym is my escape, my catharsis from work and life stress,” Braud said in an account published by Jefferson Health. “Going three or four times a week is a huge part of who I am.”
Braud, a senior vice president of claims for Aspire General Insurance, lives in Hamilton, New Jersey, with his wife, Nikole. They have three children: Chase, Cameron, and Kylie.
His medical journey began in infancy, when doctors discovered a malformed heart valve and a narrowing that restricted blood flow. He underwent his first operation before his first birthday and a second at age 11.
Although his condition remained stable for years, doctors warned that he would eventually need another operation.
“After my second surgery at 11 years old, I was going back for annual checkups, and everything looked great,” Braud said. “But I always knew, in the back of my mind, that eventually they were going to tell me it was time.”
Despite his medical history, Braud participated in baseball and hockey during high school and began serious weight training as a teenager.
By college, he was competing in bodybuilding competitions, winning a Connecticut event during his second appearance.
Although he stopped competing after becoming a father, he continued lifting weights regularly. His sons, who attend Penn State, have followed his interest in weight training, while his daughter plays soccer.
But his dedication to fitness sometimes created disagreements with physicians concerned about the risks of strenuous exercise for someone with his heart condition.
When doctors determined in November 2025 that his deteriorating aortic valve required replacement, Braud began searching for a surgeon who would consider both his medical needs and his desire to remain physically active.
He eventually met Bavaria, the Anthony E. Narducci Professor and chair of cardiac surgery and executive director of Jefferson’s Bruce & Robbi Toll Heart and Vascular Institute.
“I needed the support of my care team,” Braud said. “And with Dr. Bavaria from the very beginning, it was different.”
Braud said Bavaria described treating college and professional athletes and military pilots who had returned to demanding physical activities after similar procedures.
“There was an immediate relatability,” Braud said. “He understood what was important to me.”
A complex alternative to traditional valve replacement
The Ross procedure offers selected younger patients an alternative to conventional aortic valve replacement.
During the operation, surgeons remove the damaged aortic valve and replace it with the patient’s own pulmonary valve, which ordinarily controls blood flow from the heart to the lungs.
A donated pulmonary valve is then implanted in the original pulmonary position, and the coronary arteries are reattached to the reconstructed aortic root.
Unlike mechanical replacement valves, which generally require patients to take blood-thinning medication for life, the Ross procedure typically eliminates the need for lifelong anticoagulation associated with a mechanical valve.
Biological replacement valves can also avoid long-term anticoagulation, but they may deteriorate over time, particularly in younger patients.
The Ross procedure has demonstrated favorable long-term outcomes in appropriately selected patients, although it is technically demanding and carries the possibility of future valve deterioration or additional interventions.
Bavaria, who has performed more than 140 Ross procedures, said the operation can allow patients to resume demanding physical activities after recovery.
“The beautiful thing about the Ross is that it turns you back into absolutely normal physiology,” Bavaria said in a television interview about Braud’s recovery.
“The Ross concept, which is a beautiful, elegant concept, is you have your own living valve in the most important position,” he said.
The operation is not appropriate for every patient. Medical guidelines emphasize careful patient selection and treatment at experienced heart valve centers because the surgery involves two valves rather than one.
For Braud, the potential benefits outweighed the additional complexity.
“The procedure that I had was certainly a lot more complex and came with more risks than a basic mechanical valve replacement, but the importance of being able to live a totally normal lifestyle with no restrictions far outweighed that,” he said.
Surgeons estimated before the operation that there was a 70% chance they could complete the Ross procedure as planned and a 30% chance they would need to implant a mechanical valve instead.
Braud knew that the final decision might not be possible until surgeons examined his heart during the operation.
“When I woke up in the ICU, my wife was right there,” he recalled. “First thing I said was, ‘Did the Ross work?'”
It had.
Surgeons discover an additional complication
During the operation, Bavaria’s team identified an aneurysm in Braud’s ascending aorta, the major blood vessel carrying oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
An aortic aneurysm is an abnormal enlargement of the artery that can increase the risk of serious complications, including a potentially fatal rupture or dissection.
Such abnormalities can occur in patients with bicuspid aortic valve disease, a congenital condition in which the aortic valve has two leaflets rather than the usual three.
Bavaria repaired the aneurysm during the same operation, adding complexity and extending the surgical time.
Braud’s two previous open-heart operations presented additional challenges because surgeons had to work around existing scar tissue and earlier repairs.
“The surgery in itself lasted nearly 12 hours … they had found some additional complications,” Braud said.
Despite those challenges, the surgical team completed the Ross procedure and repaired his aorta.
The result was particularly significant for Braud, who had spent decades anticipating another major heart operation.
Back in the gym after 12 weeks
Recovery from open-heart surgery requires time for the breastbone to heal, cardiovascular function to stabilize and patients to regain their strength.
For Braud, returning to weight training was an important milestone.
Just 12 weeks after surgery, he resumed exercising under Bavaria’s guidance, initially lifting lighter weights than he had before the operation.
“My sternum still feels a little different,” Braud said. “But my heart, my lungs, and my respiratory endurance feel amazing.”
He continued gradually rebuilding his strength, with the goal of returning to the routines he had maintained for decades.
Seven months after the operation, Braud reported feeling well and resuming his busy life.
His experience illustrates the potential of advanced cardiac surgery to improve quality of life for patients whose medical conditions might otherwise restrict their activities.
However, physicians caution that recovery and exercise recommendations must be individualized. The Ross procedure does not eliminate the need for ongoing cardiology care, and patients may require future treatment if either replacement valve develops problems.
For Braud, the benefits have extended beyond physical recovery.
Before the operation, annual cardiology appointments brought persistent anxiety about whether his condition had deteriorated or whether he would be told to stop exercising.
“Every year I’d think, are they going to tell me I can’t go to the gym anymore? Are they going to tell me I need surgery tomorrow?” he said.
“Now I’ve crossed this hurdle, and I can just focus on the other things in my life.”
Braud also credited Jefferson’s nursing staff and nurse practitioner Jenna Castelberg for helping him navigate recovery and providing access to medical guidance when questions arose.
After a lifetime of treatment, he said the attention he received made a lasting impression.
“I’ve seen it all,” Braud said. “I know what it feels like when you’re just a number. At Jefferson, I never felt that way.”
His recovery has allowed him to return to work, spend time with his family and pursue the physical fitness activities that have been central to his life.
For a man who spent more than four decades living with the knowledge that another major heart operation was approaching, the greatest accomplishment may not be the weight he can lift or the endurance he has regained.
It is the opportunity to look toward the future without the same fear that once accompanied every medical appointment.
And for Braud, that future includes returning to the weight room alongside his sons — not simply as a patient who survived another operation, but as a father reclaiming an important part of his life.
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