Cardiology Patient Stories

  A CT heart scan produces stunning images of heart arteries and can diagnose serious disease, but it exposes a patient to the radiation equivalent of about 600 chest X-rays. While the risk of developing cancer from the radiation is unknown, it may exist and should make patients who have no symptoms of heart disease think twice before agreeing to such scans. “If a person has symptoms such as chest pain, the benefit of using these tests to come up with a diagnosis and a treatment plan outweighs the small potential risk,” says Thomas Gerber, M.D., a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus who was the U.S. lead author of an international study examining radiation doses in cardiac CT scanning. “However, the benefit of performing these scans in patients without symptoms is still unclear, and patients should know that.”

'Date Night' Takes on New Meaning for Heart Patient at Mayo Clinic in Arizona It would be hard to ignore the elephant in the room. This "elephant" ...

This particular morning, as I made my rounds, I knew I had to hold up my end of the deal as I approached the door of my last patient of the morning. I had not seen him for a few days, and the last day I had with him he was not feeling well at all. "Next time we meet, I will take you out to see the daylight, I promise." He pointed a tired, but determined finger at me "you better keep your word!" Today was the day I would take him downstairs to see the morning sky, to hear the birds chirping, to smell the early morning air. But, first things first. Clothes. Real clothes. No hospital gown for my favorite patient whom I had dubbed "Sinatra Guy." He had the eyes, attitude, and personality of the beloved star and one could not help to see a little Sinatra "spark" in those mischievous eyes. He had been with us for quite some time, and now, as he recovered from the last leg of his journey in the hospital he wanted so badly to be in real clothes and to go outside for the first time in a long time.

  Here's a note we received this week from Kathryn Kuhlmann, the mother of a Mayo Clinic pediatric patient: My daughter, Abby, who is 11, had heart surgery at Mayo on May 29, and she recorded a short video tour of her hospital room to share with some family and friends. I'm contacting you at the suggestion of my sister Kelly Morse Nowicki in Continuing Medical Education who thought this might be the sort of clip Mayo would be interested in posting on its YouTube channel. As is probably typical of most experiences at Mayo, all the staff were very caring and informative. And for her to be up and about just two days after open heart surgery is a testament to the skill of all involved. We are very appreciative of everyone we came in contact with, and Abby would be willing to let her video be viewed by a wider audience as a way of showing another positive patient experience. Abby's video, which was recorded on a Sunday afternoon after her Friday morning heart surgery, is embedded below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdWa60koANA Here's a follow-up note with further details we received from Abby's dad:

I am not a Mayo Clinic employee, and I've never been a Mayo Clinic patient. But I am a heart attack survivor who last October travelled from the West Coast of Canada to Rochester to attend the annual WomenHeart Science and Leadership Symposium for Women With Heart Disease at Mayo Clinic - the first Canadian ever invited to attend! I discovered that this Symposium was part world-class cardiology education (with lectures from Mayo cardiologist like Dr. Sharonne Hayes and Dr. Rekha Mankad among others) and part community activism bootcamp! What we learned at Mayo Clinic was shocking, even to heart attack survivors:

After spending most of the last decade in and out of physicians’ offices looking for solutions to her medical problems, Cindy Hansen turned to the ...

As an 8-year-old girl from Michigan was headed into surgery for a heart transplant, she asked Mike Ackerman -- a pediatric cardiology fellow at Mayo who was part of her care team -- if she was going to live. Dr. Ackerman said, "Of course you're going to live, and I'm going to dance with you at your prom."  Ten years later -- on April 25, 2009 -- Dr. Ackerman flew to Michigan to surprise Stefani Pentiuk at her senior prom to fulfill a promise made years ago. I work at Mayo Clinic in our Public Affairs Department. Specifically, I work on our media team, helping reporters connect with physicians for interviews. I have had the pleasure of helping share Stefani's story.Update June 5, 2005: Dr. Ackerman, Stefani and her parents were featured live in the studio with Harry Smith on the CBS Early Show this morning. See the segment.

I was told these words following a night in the ER where I received superior care/ treatment to determine if I was having and/or had a heart attackand yes I did. After 3 days in St.Marys, where I received the very best of care and was tactfully informed by my cardiologist that the condition of my arteries were "the worst he had seen in a long time," I was given the options of bypass, medication intervention or stents, which resulted in a collaborative decision to use 3 stents. I ended up with 1 stent, then spent 3 more days in St.Mary's precipitated by failing my initial stress test, and whinnying to the surgeon who put in the stent that I "will never be the same or be able to exercise."

Generally when the heart of Adrian Fernandez is beating at a frenetic pace, he’s behind the wheel of a race car, and a highly trained and loyal pit crew is waiting around the next turn of the track to spring into action. Not so much when Adrian was on the treadmill at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, submitting to a rigorous workout of a totally different kind. His “pit crew” came in the form of skilled, compassionate cardiac professionals. And this time, Adrian was on his own to prove his performance – cardiac performance, as opposed to driving proficiency. Sonographer Nan Pearson was among those who helped guide Adrian through Mayo Clinic’s new Heart Health and Performance Program, including his stress echo test, a diagnostic tool generally not used unless previous cardiac symptoms had been detected. A cardiac sonographer is able to view images of the heart and blood vessels to detect subtle differences between normal and potentially diseased areas and present the data for interpretation. But Adrian was motivated to participate in comprehensive screening to determine his heart health. Not only does he need to maintain fitness for his racing profession, he has a wife and two young children to think about. And, he admits, “I have a cholesterol issue.”

As a woman with heart disease who works at Mayo, I arrived on Friday, Feb. ...

The Internet makes it possible for Mayo Clinic to gather its worldwide community of 500,000 annual patients and 50,000 employees through Sharing Mayo Clinic. Disease-oriented ...

Shortly after he was born in early 2008, Trevor King was diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome, a condition that could cause sudden cardiac death. He may be the youngest patient ever to get a pacemaker-defibrillator, a device that sends an electric shock to the heart when it detects a potentially life-threatening heart rhythm. But in the months following his birth and diagnosis, Trevor's mother Rhonda began participating in an online community for patients with Long QT and their families, and she began to question whether he had been correctly diagnosed. Here's the first part of her story of deciding to seek a second opinion for Trevor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFYiaMuZY4g Below is Part II of Trevor's story, as Mrs. King describes what happened when she and her husband arrived in Rochester, Minn. to see Dr. Michael Ackerman: