Williams resident gets open
heart surgery - but without the 'open'
Cutting edge,
WILLIAMS - Bruce LaPier likes to plow snow on his Polaris ATV or ride it down the dirt roads of his rural Williams neighborhood to visit friends. That's when he is not playing Santa during the month of December at various events or working at church.
Or at least that's what LaPier did before he suffered two heart attacks in two weeks last September. When physicians at Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC) told LaPier he needed coronary bypass surgery, all he could think about was "them taking a buzz saw to my chest and opening me up," says the 68-year-old grandfather of 10.
Lying in the hospital, LaPier thought of his dad who had a heart attack at age 68, but was too frightened to have open heart surgery. He died five years later. "I knew I had to do it, but I didn't want to," LaPier says.
So when Steven Peterson, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at FMC, told LaPier about a minimally invasive alternative to traditional open heart surgery, it felt like Christmas had come early for the white-bearded man.
Instead of making a 10- to 12-inch incision down LaPier's chest, Peterson was able to access LaPier's heart and perform a double bypass through a 4-inch incision between his ribs.
"We gently spread the ribs apart and that gives us access to the internal mammary artery," Peterson explains. "Using some of the new techniques and hardware we have from the manufacturers, we can actually reach the aorta from the small incision. That has given us freedom to do other bypasses."
Since FMC's cardiac-surgery program began in 2004, more than 1,000 heart surgeries have been performed at FMC. Peterson notes that many heart surgeons are not trained in minimally invasive techniques, so the procedure can be uncommon even in large medical centers.
"I think it's unusual that a community this size has heart surgery and that FMC has an aggressive, technologically innovative program," says Dr. Peterson. "You can look around the country, there aren't that many (surgeons) doing minimally invasive surgery."
The smaller incision relieved LaPier's anxiety about open heart surgery and also made recovery far easier. "There was little pain," LaPier said. "Within two days, I was motoring all over the hospital with my walker. I was able to clear my lungs within a day or two."
LaPier said he was amazed by the kindness of FMC staff members. Before surgery, he asked Dr. Peterson if he would have to shave his beard before the surgery.
"They asked, 'why?' and I said, 'I always play Santa at Christmas,'" LaPier explained.
The next day, Sherry Schultz, RN, a nurse who specializes in caring for cardiovascular surgery patients, came to his room and practiced braiding his long beard so that it would not get into the wound area.
"The night before surgery, she came in and braided my beard," LaPier said. "It's just amazing. The whole staff at Flagstaff Medical Center, from the doctors and the nurses, the respiratory techs, the patient care techs, to the clinic people, they're just fantastic people. They take very good care, because they care for their patients, and it's obvious."
Four days after LaPier got out of the hospital, he celebrated his 49th wedding anniversary with his wife, Joan. The couple immediatley began decorating their Williams home for Christmas, their favorite time of year. LaPier says within weeks after surgery, he felt better than he had for at least a year.
"I was probably sick for a year," says LaPier, a former Navy engineer who after retirement became an ordained Episcopal priest. "I just thought I was getting old. I really just thought, 'I'm 68. I just can't do what I used to do.'"
Now, he's looking forward to doing more of what he used to do.
Since his surgery, he's lost nearly 30 pounds so his belly no longer shakes like a bowl full of jelly. But thanks to the surgical team at FMC, his white beard is still long and full, and his heart is beating stronger than ever.
What is minimally invasive open heart surgery?
Some heart patients at Flagstaff Medical Center now have an alternative to traditional open heart surgery thanks to the advanced training and expertise of FMC's cardiac surgery team.
Because of new technology, FMC's Cardiothoracic Surgeon Steven Peterson, M.D., and the surgical team are now performing more minimally invasive bypass surgeries than ever before.
The minimally invasive technique is seldom performed in communities the size of Flagstaff, and often is unavailable even in urban medical centers. Dr. Peterson's extensive training in minimally invasive techniques makes FMC's cardiac program one of the most advanced in the region.
Unlike conventional bypass surgery, in which surgeons access the heart through a 10- to 12-inch incision down a patient's chest, minimally invasive cardiac bypass surgery involves a four- to six-inch incision between the patient's ribs. Patients are not placed on a heart-lung machine, so their heart continues to beat during surgery. Elimination of the heart-lung machine and a smaller incision minimizes pain and speeds recovery.
"With a coronary artery bypass, we work on the surface of the heart, and so the heart is allowed to keep beating while we operate on it," Dr. Peterson explains. "It's ultimately easier for the patient because there are less risks, but it's more technically demanding on the surgeon, which is probably why it hasn't been taken up as much across the country," he says.
Cardiac bypass surgery is performed when a patient's arteries become blocked or partially blocked. Surgeons are able to bypass the obstructed artery using a portion of a blood vessel taken from another part of the body, usually the leg or chest. The new blood vessels carry blood around the blockage, restoring blood supply to and from the heart.
Because of advances in technology and equipment, more patients are eligible for the minimally invasive procedure. However, whether a patient is a candidate depends on the number of arteries that need to be bypassed, the location of the blocked arteries and the condition of the patient's heart.
Patients who undergo minimally invasive bypass surgery report less pain. Patients are typically discharged from the hospital days sooner than those who undergo conventional open heart bypass surgery. Smaller incisions and avoidance of the heart-lung machine also reduces the risks of complications such as infection, stroke and renal failure.
For more information on comprehensive and cutting-edge cardiology services at FMC, visit FlagstaffMedicalCenter.com or call (928) 773-2150.
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