Hiatus
By Gene Shimandle
After the implantation (2010) of my Defibrillator/Pacer, the surgeon who installed the device stopped by my room to talk with me. We had had little contact before the surgery. However, enough to tell me what to expect throughout the day of and then again as the anesthetic started to kick in - he had said "see you after we are done".
He told me that the procedure had gone better than any he had done before and that he had performed hundreds of these implants.
He then asked me about my birth date. I told him and he said to me, "I saw that on your chart. We were born on the same day". I told him I heard that if there are 23 people in the same room there's a good chance that 2 will have a same date birthday. We slammed those odds.
He said, "No.you misunderstood. We were born on the same date and the same year". As we talked, he was very interested in my heart failure history. "Did I ever smoke? No. Was there any familial history of CHF? No. Did I abuse alcohol? No". (I didn't particularly like the taste or the feeling).
After the rapid fire questioning, he sat there for a moment then said, " I think I need to spend more time with my family. I'm going to take some time off and do that right away".
Family has always come first for me. I thought, 'I hope he does just that.' A short time later we received a letter stating that this Dr. was leaving the practice indefinitely.
My CHF diagnosis, prognosis and birthday had affected this surgeon. I was a patient with that cardiology group for the next two years. He didn't return. I started looking for a new group.
In my search for the best heart transplant team I was led away from University Hospitals toward the Cleveland Clinic, No.#1 for Heart Care for 19 straight years is their mantra. In my experience, this has been absolutely true. I tell all who will listen that I have aligned my STARS.
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My VAD was Implanted July 31, 2013 at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.