There’s a history of heart disease in the family, as my
father and both his brothers died from it. The cardiologist’s original idea was
to place a stent to clear out my clogged arteries without undertaking anything
more invasive, but a camera probe showed the arteries could not support that
alternative and that, in fact, I could have suffered a massive heart attack at
any point. Keeping me under intensive care at Kaiser San Francisco for several days, until the dissolution of blood-thinning medication I had been taking, permitted
them to undertake a triple bypass operation last Wednesday June 29th, and I
came home this afternoon.
That’s where the link with Southern Cone Travel comes in: the
Argentine cardiologist René
Gerónimo Favaloro (pictured above), who worked at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic, was a pioneer in arterial bypass treatment, and his Fundacion
Favaloro, in downtown in Buenos Aires, is probably Latin America’s foremost
cardiological research institute and teaching hospital. Unfortunately, Favaloro himself never lived to
see the success of the procedure, as he killed himself with a gunshot wound to
the heart in 2002 – when the depths of Argentina’s worst economic crisis ever
must have made that success seem ever more remote.
Dr. Favaloro’s procedure, though, should make it possible
for me continue updating and improving my Moon Handbooks to Argentina,
Buenos
Aires, Chile
and Patagonia,
with a minor inconvenience: the wire that now holds my healing sternum together
may set off airport metal detectors. That’s a small enough price to pay for
another two decades or so on the planet.
10 comments:
Wayne,
Congratulations & welcome home. Dan
Que lindo post Wayne! Y que buenas noticias que haya salido todo bien!
Un abrazo grande desde Argentina! Juan
Que bueno, me alegre que todo bien. Saludos, Jimmy
Glad you are on the mend and hope that continues! Just stopped by to grab info to add the Southern Cone Travel blog to my Blogs about Chile page - sad to hear of your illness and even sadder the story of René Gerónimo Favaloro. Lucky for you to have gotten the care you needed. Best, Molly
Glad to hear the surgery went well! Hope you get well soon!
Sounds like we've both been derailed by unexpected health issues this summer. I'm very glad to hear your surgery was successful. My dad had a massive heart attack in the hospital 20 years ago while he was waiting for his bypass, and then was okay for another 15 years after they "renovated his plumbing" (his words). People keep telling me I'll recover faster in the long run if I take it easy now, so I'll pass on their advice: Take it easy while you recover.
Best wishes, Ruth (Edward's partner)
Fortunately, I did not have a heart attack (though I could have had, at any moment).
Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Roger
Wayne, you're too young to be a heart patient! Take care of yourself, and best wishes for a speedy and uneventful recovery.
I would like to think so, but that's obviously not the case.
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