Game Changing Therapy for Patients
Te Awamutu-based independent consultant and researcher Dr Sharon Toi is in her 60s, with three adult children, ten great-grandchildren – and an 11th on the way.
She is younger than people who typically undergo transcatheter aortic valve implementation (TAVI) procedure. But when she began suffering heart problem symptoms, she pushed for this minimally invasive procedure rather than open heart surgery (OHS).
A highly qualified lawyer with a PhD in law, she had thoroughly researched the choices and because she had health insurance, opted for the private health route. The procedure was performed in March of this year by renowned Waikato interventional cardiologist Dr Sanjeevan Pasupati, who says Sharon’s heart is now working like a 20-year-old’s.
In early adulthood, she was fit and sporty. “I didn’t discover till I was pregnant with my eldest daughter that I had a heart murmur,” she says. “I thought it was nothing to worry about. But as I grew older the murmur grew stronger. Doctors started monitoring my heart rate and kept reminding me I had this issue.”
In her late 30s, Sharon began to suffer heart palpitations and in her 40s, came under the care of a cardiologist. She had a gastric bypass procedure in 2005 and lost lots of weight. “I became very fit after that, competing in triathlons, doing CrossFit and was a regular gymgoer. After moving to Te Awamutu from Auckland, I came into the care of a fantastic cardiologist at Waikato Hospital, Dr Raewyn Fisher. She said, ‘Everything you’ve done is good, but you will need a valve replacement. Probably not until your 70s’. “Then two years ago I started to experience problems. I was still relatively fit and just over 100kg in weight. In 2021 my daughter, Brooke Snowden, became an extreme hip-hop step instructor and I started doing that - and I was fine. However, I did notice tiredness in my legs and breathlessness and began looking at options for surgery in 2021. Last year I noticed more symptoms and my cardiologist told me I would need a procedure soon.”
Open heart surgery was recommended originally; however, Sharon didn’t want to undergo such an invasive procedure. “I told my cardiologist I wanted to look at the TAVI procedure. He recommended I see Dr Pasupati, who gave me an echocardiogram. He said the procedure could be a bit tricky because I had a lot of calcification (calcium build-up) and my arteries weren’t in good shape.”
Sharon had an angioplasty to widen her arteries, which required four stents and the procedure took five hours. The TAVI procedure, which was performed a few weeks later, took one hour and she stayed in hospital an extra night. She was back at work just ten days later. “I had the TAVI in March, and in May, my final meeting with Sanjeevan.”
Now feeling in great shape, Sharon says she “absolutely” recommends the TAVI procedure and strongly hopes it can be made more generally available. “If TAVI is going to get people back into work and healthier quicker, shouldn’t that be what our health service is all about?”