Vim & Vigor - Summer 2020 - CH - 8

8

the procedure," explains Eng,
director of Cardiothoracic Surgery
at Community Healthcare System.
"TAVR, in contrast, is performed
through a small needle stick
through the groin artery that
leaves the chest intact. This helps
to speed recovery."

TAVR SUCCESS STORIES

Doris Hamilton, 75, of Chicago,
got a sense something was wrong
when she could not make up her
bed without getting winded.
"I was putting on the fitted sheet
and before I could get around to
the other side of the bed, I was out
of breath," Hamilton explains. "I
had to sit down. I knew something
was wrong."
After several trips to a nearby
emergency department for
shortness of breath, in August
2019 Hamilton visited her cardiologist, P. Ramon Llobet, MD.
Llobet is a Community Care
Network physician on staff at
St. Catherine Hospital in East
Chicago and Community Hospital
in Munster.
"I live in Chicago, but get most
of my healthcare in Northwest
Indiana," Hamilton says. "My
family doctor and cardiologist,
Dr. Llobet, are in East Chicago.

Doris
Hamilton, of
Chicago, is
enjoying renewed
energy after a
TAVR procedure.

After his TAVR
procedure, Joe
Carpen, 88, is
still bowling
twice a week.

Dr. Llobet ran tests and found that
my heart wasn't running at full
capacity. He said I needed a new
aortic valve."
Hamilton had the TAVR
procedure in November at
Community Hospital in Munster.
"When I first got up from my
hospital bed I was a little dizzy, but
when I walked back to my room I
felt good, just like I hadn't had any
surgery at all," she says. "I believe
TAVR has improved the quality of
my life. I have a lot to live for: I've
been married 22 years with five
grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I'm really blessed that I
had that done because I feel much
better. It's a miracle."
At 88 years of age, Joe Carpen
of Hessville still works part time
as a courier for a firm based
in Merrillville.
"I was feeling great that day in
May 2019," he says. "I had just got
done with my route when I stopped
in Meijer to do some shopping.
Before heading to the checkout
counter, I stopped in the frozen
food section and that's where I
passed out. I went down and didn't
know how I got there when I
came to."
EMTs in the ambulance told
Carpen that his heart was working
at only 20 percent. Carpen has a
family history of heart disease, had

undergone a bypass 24 years earlier and more recently had a heart
stent implanted.
This time, Carpen was fitted with
a pacemaker and underwent a stress
test before being released from
the hospital.
After the stress test, Carpen's
cardiologist, Abdul Kawamleh, MD,
on staff at St. Mary Medical Center,
asked how he felt.
"I told him, 'Not too good.' He
asked if anyone had ever told me
that I had a bad aortic valve in my
heart. I said, 'No, you're the first
one.' He got me an appointment
with Dr. Abbas the very next day.
I am grateful."
At the appointment, Carpen's
doctors told him that he needed to
undergo the TAVR procedure.
"I stayed at Community Hospital
just one day after the procedure,"
Carpen says. "The care was very
good. I'm feeling better. I still get
out to bowl twice a week with my
fellow alumni from Lever Brothers.
Only the good Lord knows what the
future holds." *

Cutting-Edge
Care

For more information on the
Structural Heart & Valve Center,
call 219-703-5301 or visit
COMHS.org/heart.

SUMMER 2020 VIM & VIGOR

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3/30/20 2:58 PM
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Vim & Vigor - Summer 2020 - CH

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