Woman sleeps like a baby after rare surgery
TWO DAMAGED HEART VALVES WERE CHANGED, AND A THIRD REPAIRED
After several years Jennifer Rose Diaz, 29, was able get a full night’s rest and speak to her mother in the Philippines, without gasping for breath.
On October 4, Diaz, who had been turned away by many hospitals, finally underwent a rare and complicated surgery at Al Zahra Hospital, Sharjah.
Dr Rafik Abu Samrah, consultant cardiologist conducted the surgery to change two of her heart valves and repair a third that were damaged by Rheumatic heart disease.
An accountant and fifth of a family of six siblings Diaz, who works in Ras Al Khaimah, was finding it difficult to lead a normal life. “For as long as I can remember I have had a weak heart. It was getting worse each year. I was often breathless and had such severe palpitation that I could hear my heart hammering against my ribs. This kept me awake at nights and tired,“recalled Diaz speaking from the ward she was moved to from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Rheumatic heart disease
Explaining Diaz’s condition, Dr Abu Samrah said: “Jennifer may have had a rheumatic fever sometime ago. This usually starts with a streptococcus infection in the throat and rapidly moves to damage the heart muscle. In her case the weak heart muscle condition was life-threatening.
“Normally the space in the Mitral Valve of the heart is 2.5mm. In her case the space had shrunk to 0.5mm. In addition, two more valves had been damaged.
“The patient could not lead a normal life and there was a threat of the valve shutting down, leading to heart failure, if the procedure was not carried out.”
Dr Abu Samrah also carried out ablation, a procedure to correct the heart rhythms to correct arrhythmia and sync the left and right ventricles, which were not working in tandem.
Diaz had given up on getting the surgery done. “Other doctors and hospitals I visited told me that not only was the surgery very expensive costing over Dh260,000, it was also high risk, owing to pulmonary hypertension I suffered. All others refused to carry it out before I finally met Dr Abu Samrah who decided to take this risk.”
Things fell into place very soon after Dr Abu Samrah’s decision to do the surgery.
Al Zahra management agreed to bear half of the expenditure. Diaz’ insurance agreed to foot Dh80,000, while she raised Dh50,000 through friends and loans. The hospital paid Dh130,000 as their contribution.
Diaz was able to enjoy a good night’s sleep on the very first night after surgery. “I am still weak, but I was able to sleep like a baby throughout my stay in hospital. I am no longer breathless or palpitating and gaining my strength every day. I look forward to being discharged and resuming work in a few weeks.”