My name is Richard. I was diagnosed with HCM around 1987 at age 40. I've always been very active in baseball, surfing, and keeping up with my son. I began having real problems in 1997, finding that I was having some chest pain and shortness of breath when I was out for my evening jog.
In the summer of 1999 I was to the poiint where I was having problemgoing up stairs or walking for a block or so. My cardiologist told me that the beta blockers weren't doing the job any longer and we'd have to do something structural and make some changes. He told me about the open heart option and then mentioned that there was a new procedure being tested in Houston. He made arrangements for me to go in October.
By the time I got to the Baylor Heart Institute in Houston I couldn't walk 50 yards without angina and shortness of breath. I met with Dr. Robert Spenser and he made an evaluation of my condition, including the always exciting "stress ecocardiogram". The next day I came in and he said that I was a good candidate for an alcohol ablation. He explained the procedure and told me that the would be giving me a heart attack on the operating table. I didn't really understand what that meant. I agreed and went into surgery on October 30, 1999. I was the 131st person to have the procedure.
I woke up in ICU with the nurse hooking up an IV and I had tremendous ch"No, you just had one". When I woke up later my first impression was that I could "breathe" differently. I didn't realize that I had been breathing differntly when I was having all of the chest pain and short breaths just became normal. Now I was taking deep breaths without any pain.
The next day they put in a pacemaker, and the following day I waled out of the hosipital, went across the street to Rice University and walked around the track. No pain, no shortness of breath.
I'm 58 next month and I just finished a 30 minute run this evening after work. I haven't had any symtoms, at all, since my procedure. My pacemaker has been set on standby since spring of 2000.
This changed my life. And I made huge life changes because of it. I'll tell you about that if you're interested, but I'll say that I am a big fan of Dr. Spenser and this procedure.
Richard Cornelius
San Diego
In the summer of 1999 I was to the poiint where I was having problemgoing up stairs or walking for a block or so. My cardiologist told me that the beta blockers weren't doing the job any longer and we'd have to do something structural and make some changes. He told me about the open heart option and then mentioned that there was a new procedure being tested in Houston. He made arrangements for me to go in October.
By the time I got to the Baylor Heart Institute in Houston I couldn't walk 50 yards without angina and shortness of breath. I met with Dr. Robert Spenser and he made an evaluation of my condition, including the always exciting "stress ecocardiogram". The next day I came in and he said that I was a good candidate for an alcohol ablation. He explained the procedure and told me that the would be giving me a heart attack on the operating table. I didn't really understand what that meant. I agreed and went into surgery on October 30, 1999. I was the 131st person to have the procedure.
I woke up in ICU with the nurse hooking up an IV and I had tremendous ch"No, you just had one". When I woke up later my first impression was that I could "breathe" differently. I didn't realize that I had been breathing differntly when I was having all of the chest pain and short breaths just became normal. Now I was taking deep breaths without any pain.
The next day they put in a pacemaker, and the following day I waled out of the hosipital, went across the street to Rice University and walked around the track. No pain, no shortness of breath.
I'm 58 next month and I just finished a 30 minute run this evening after work. I haven't had any symtoms, at all, since my procedure. My pacemaker has been set on standby since spring of 2000.
This changed my life. And I made huge life changes because of it. I'll tell you about that if you're interested, but I'll say that I am a big fan of Dr. Spenser and this procedure.
Richard Cornelius
San Diego
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