As the marketing representative for the Frances Langford Heart Center, I work closely every day with the personnel there to educate the community about the heart center.
I go to meetings, do health fairs and organize events. It is very busy and very interesting and I feel that I have learned a lot about what the heart center does. So when I had the opportunity to be present at one of the many heart surgeries performed at the heart center, I thought it was my chance to really see in action what I put on paper for others.
Dr. Michael Crouch, one of our cardiothoracic surgeons, was performing an aortic valve replacement on a 75-year-old woman. I was very excited, but when I talked to my husband about it the night before he was a little surprised about it – he worried I might pass out. I knew that there was a possibility for me to get a little queasy during the surgery, but I was ready to take the chance of looking ridiculous if it meant having an opportunity to see a procedure take place.
We arrived early in the morning and got into scrubs. The patient was already in the operating room and sound asleep. Dr. Crouch came in and I was amazed by the calm demeanor of the entire team. Our surgeon was assisted by Dr. Paul Robertie, the cardiac anesthesiologist, and Dale Ruby was the perfusionist who was making sure that the pump machine would take over for the heart of the patient. A team that included a physician assistant, surgical technicians and nurses proved to be skilled and efficient during the operation.
When Dr. Crouch started to open the patient’s chest, the heart was beating slowly. The next thing I know, she was hooked to the pump and her heart stopped beating. Then, Dr. Crouch made an incision into her heart and showed me the aortic valve that needed to be replaced. He prepped the area and started to attach the new valve, then slid the new valve gently into its place and closed the area.
The patient heart was ready to beat on its own again and the pump was stopped so that the heart could start again. An hour after her heart was stopped, the new valve was in and her heart was beating by itself again.
This was an incredible and very humbling experience for me. I think that every time the team performs a heart surgery it is a miracle that happens.
And speaking of miracles, I did not pass out – no queasiness, not even a shiver.
--Sophie Sawicki
Marketing Representative
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