Thanks to those who gave me a life-saving restart at 63
This is the story of two people who saved my life.
My little sister Kelly Lewis of Somers, Conn., and Dr. Fan Victor Chu, division head of cardiac surgery at Hamilton General Hospital.
When we celebrated New Year’s Day 2023 I didn’t have sextuple heart bypass surgery on my dance card.
I was looking forward to continuing an active lifestyle, working as CEO with our great team and board at Hamilton Community Foundation and hoping to finish a third 42K Marine Corps Marathon, in Washington D.C. at 63, which I had previously completed in both my 40s and 50s as well as playing basketball, squash and golf.
But my sister Kelly, longtime nurse with a neurology specialty, was worried about our family history of heart disease and had insisted that I drive to Buffalo and pay $110 (U.S.) for a coronary calcium scan, a test not routinely conducted in Canada, that identifies plaque buildup in the coronary arteries.
Full transparency, I always did regular check ups with my GP and had just done blood work in December. I also had a diet high in saturated fats — too much pizza and pie. But I had never had any diagnostic cardiology done, not even a stress test.
When the results came back from Buffalo, I was classified as having a 96 per cent risk of experiencing a major cardiac “event” in the next five years. I got an urgent referral from my family doc to the Hamilton General’s renowned cardiac surgery department.
What followed was angioplasty with Dr. James Velianou (with assists from Dr. Jacques Titley and Dr. Jeremy Paikin) that confirmed the need for bypass surgery. That sextuple bypass surgery was done by legendary surgeon Dr. Victor Chu on Feb. 13.
I was kindly cared for in recovery by nurses such as Josephine and Adam, literally saints who walk this earth.
I am now in recovery at home with a tough six- to eight-week rehab ahead. I am so grateful to my wife and soulmate Maureen Wilson and our three kids, Lane O’Hara, Frances and Wilson, for their incredible love and support through this medical ordeal. I am also so thankful for the kindness of friends like Dr. Martin ten Hove, my best friend in the world since Grade 9 at Westdale, who drove down from Kingston, to serve as my medical advocate.
So I have been given a life-saving restart to my life at 63.
There will inevitably be bumps in the long road ahead. But if I can provide some lessons from this experience they are simple. If you have a family history or symptoms of heart disease, get checked out by our world-class cardiac team at Hamilton Health Sciences. And always listen to your little sister!