Feeling better than ever after heart surgery

When Thomas Day’s heart rate reached 189 beats per minute, he knew he had to get help.

Living in Safford, he drove himself to the nearest hospital. While in the waiting room, another person noticed Day was in distress and called for hospital staff to help. Once he was stable, he was airlifted to Tucson Medical Center for escalated care.

At TMC, Day’s medical team determined he needed a transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) to address aortic stenosis. That wasn’t in the cards for him though. Further testing revealed that Day was in heart and kidney failure and had other serious problems.

“He was originally sent in for a TAVR, but he had a lot more problems, so he was better served with open heart surgery,” said Rhoda Tanio, R.N., CT surgery coordinator at TMC. “And since he was a high-risk surgical candidate, he had to be optimized with medication first in order to bring the risk down.”

Once he was stable enough for surgery, an Impella 5.0 heart pump was placed in Day’s heart to allow it to rest while the medical team performed aortic valve replacement, mitral valve replacement and ascending aorta replacement. The Impella heart pump provides minimally invasive, temporary support to help the pumping function of the heart, allowing it to rest and recover. After seven days of support, the Impella was removed.

Born with only one kidney, Day was at an elevated risk for needing dialysis after such a surgery, but after surgery, his kidney improved.

“Rates of complications after surgery are really high for someone like this,” Tanio said. “We were so relieved to see Mr. Day pull through without experiencing any complications. He did not need any dialysis, even for a short period of time, even with just one kidney that was starting to fail.”

Now, nearly six months later, Day feels better than he has in years. Since leaving the hospital, he has walked 215 miles, rowed 60 miles and completed 48 weightlifting workouts.

“I even feel like doing yardwork,” Day said jokingly.

A reunion with his care team

Tears of joy, smiles and friendly faces filled the room at TMC’s Marshall Conference Center when Day reunited with part of his care team and other hospital staff for a heart recovery reunion this week.

Mimi Coomler, CEO of TMC, opened the reunion with heartfelt words of gratitude to the staff for the care they gave to Day. Speaking directly to Day, she said. “I want to thank you for being here today…Our work was to heal you and your work was to heal, and you did. It was your will to live and your commitment to getting better that brought you back to us today. Thank you for that gift.”

Day was next to speak.

“I didn’t realize how extensive my surgery was going to be,” he recalled. “She (Dr. Elizabeth Butler, cardiothoracic surgeon) said there were five things she wanted to accomplish, and she accomplished all five things. I’ve really got to hand it to her and the team for persevering and getting everything done.”

Cardiothoracic surgeon Kushagra Katariya, M.D., and nurses from Day’s medical team acknowledged the teamwork it takes to care for patients and talked about Day’s positive attitude and desire to get well as soon as possible.

“We are so lucky to have so many amazing people to care for people like you. There are so many people who touch a patient here,” Dr. Katariya said. “The surgeon is just a small part of that. Kudos to you for having the strength, fortitude and optimism to go through all of this.”

A new sense of hope

The care Day received during his stay at TMC gave him more than a healed heart. It gave him hope and a renewed excitement for the future.

He says he looks forward to seeing his grandchildren graduate, get married and have children. He is also planning a vacation to Alaska this summer.

“There’s hope for people like me because of people like you,” Day said, his voice wavering with emotion. “I appreciate all you do and thank you from the bottom of my heart.”  

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Go here for more information on TMC's cardiac program.