Lafayette Gatewood III, 56, of St. Louis, Mo., has been a high school teacher and football coach for 28 years. In July of 2019, Lafayette was on the football field at practice, like he is most days, when he developed a blister on his foot. With a history of diabetes and kidney failure, he became particularly worried when his foot swelled up.

"I was a little bit concerned because I didn’t know anybody else that had a valve inside of a valve, but each visit back to Dr. Ray’s office reassured me, as he said it was absolutely doable,” says Earl.