Thankful from the heart

Before her heart surgery, Davis had a hard time getting over the fact that she had three blockages to her heart just weeks after her retirement.


Now, just a few months after her November operation, the only thing Davis had a hard time doing was catching her breath as she was the life of the party on Sunday afternoon. The occasion was a reunion ceremony for patients who have undergone heart surgery at Reid Hospital.

Dr. Kevin Murray, one of the two heart surgeons at Reid, was responsible for the idea. Murray said reuniting heart patients after their surgeries had been done at hospitals where he previously worked.

Davis said that she was about to undergo a gall bladder operation until she went to her doctor and learned that she needed heart surgery.

"It was like an out-of-body experience when the doctors told me I needed heart surgery, especially after just retiring as a kindergarten teacher for 20 years," Davis said.

"I am thankful to be here and I am thankful that so many others are here as well."

Since her surgery, she has continued to stay active by working out five times a week at Earlham College to "make sure that my arteries stay clear."

Like many of the people she hugged and shared stories with, she owed their lives to two men -- Dr. Paul Howanitz and Murray.

Two years ago Reid lured Howanitz from a hospital in Pennsylvania.

Once he arrived, he persuaded Murray, whom he worked with at Ohio State, to follow him to Richmond.

"(Murray) left a hospital in Hawaii to come here," Howanitz said. "Sometimes, you just go where the job looks attractive."

Since they have teamed up, they have performed more than 300 surgeries at Reid with a 1.4 percent mortality rate, Howanitz said.

During the ceremony, their former patients and hospital administrative staff applauded them.

Both men thanked the crowd and even gave the audience something to laugh about.

"One of the reasons I came (to Reid) is because I got to be the younger partner," Murray told the crowd. "Because when you start hearing that you have 20 years of experience, you try not to think about a number associated with your age."

In November, the Rev. David Layman underwent surgery. On Sunday, he took a few of his fellow surgery brethren to a trip down memory lane asking them to remember all the staff who were involved in the process.

Layman even mentioned the cleaning staff and how the woman who would clean his room was "always quiet with a smile on her face."

But the one person of the heart surgery staff he spoke the fondest of was the anesthesiologist.
source:www.pal-item.com