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7
New valves, new life
“I have concerns, of course. But every time I go
back for follow-ups, I’m told how amazing I’m
doing. And I do feel better all of the time.”
– Kathryn Sanders, 56
KATHRYN SANDERS
knew some-
thing wasn’t right. She felt tired and
winded even when sitting still.
“I couldn’t even finish a sentence
on the phone without feeling out of
breath,” she says.
She didn’t know what was going
on. She’d had pneumonia before, but
that didn’t seem to be the case this
time. Deeply concerned, she went to
her primary care physician, Jeremy
Huff, DO, who, after monitoring her
for a time, performed an EKG on her
heart. It showed that something was
very wrong. From there, Sanders
went to CHRISTUS Hospital – St.
Elizabeth for specialized testing
to determine the cause of her
breathlessness.
In good hands
It was at St. Elizabeth that Huff
introduced Sanders to cardiologist
Timothy Colgan, MD, who deter-
mined that Sanders’ heart valves
were actually leaking blood. She
needed surgery.
She met with Stephen LaMendola,
MD, a cardiovascular and thoracic
surgeon at CHRISTUS Hospital – St.
Elizabeth and St. Mary.
“I immediately felt comfortable
with him,” she says. And because of
previous experience at St. Elizabeth,
she knew she would be in good
hands there.
Sanders’ aortic and mitral valves
needed to be replaced, and her tri-
cuspid valve needed to be repaired.
These are three of the four valves in
the heart. Each valve has flaps that
should open and close with every
heartbeat, allowing blood to flow in
the right direction.
Birth defects, age, infections, and
other conditions can cause valves
not to close fully and to leak blood.
This puts the heart under tremen-
dous strain.
In Sanders’ case, a childhood
bout of rheumatic fever damaged
her valves.
Surgery and recovery
Valve replacement is one of
the many advanced procedures
performed at St. Elizabeth and
St. Mary through the CHRISTUS
Cardiac Care Network. This inte-
grated system combines superior
cardiac teams, advanced technology
and a deep commitment to excep-
tional care. It starts with prevention
and continues through all phases of
diagnosis, treatment and rehabilita-
tion for cardiovascular conditions
and problems.
It was this multidisciplinary ap-
proach that helped Sanders through
the stress, fear and many decisions
she faced in dealing with her heart
problems.
In October 2010, at St. Elizabeth,
Sanders had her aortic and mi-
tral valves replaced with St. Jude
Medical valves – considered the
gold standard of artificial, mechani-
cal valves – and her tricuspid valve
repaired. She was back at work by
Christmas.
Today, Sanders is happy to be
living a normal life and is mak-
ing steady improvements in her
diet, exercise routine and lifestyle.
She has her work, her husband,
her three children, and her eight
grandchildren – the loves of her
life – to keep her motivated.
“I feel lucky to be alive,” she
says. “I have that team of doctors to
thank.”
Gold
awards
In other heart-related
news, the American
Heart Association’s
Get With The Guidelines
program awarded CHRISTUS
Hospital – St. Mary with the Gold
for its consistent and high-quality
care of patients with heart failure.
CHRISTUS Hospital – St. Elizabeth
was awarded the Gold Plus.