Testimonial

Jerry Vasilko Network architect, weekend hockey player and cardiac patient Midland, Michigan "Driving home after my first hockey game of the season, I had pain in my chest and back. Plaque was totally blocking my artery, the one they call the ‘widowmaker.’ Waiting could have been deadly; but luckily, within about an hour, I was at MidMichigan having angioplasty to open the artery."

Hockey Player Wins Face-Off With Blocked Artery

Jerry Vasilko, 45, plays hockey, eats right, maintains healthy weight and gets regular check-ups, so he was surprised to find that plaque had completely closed one vital artery providing blood to his heart and partially blocked two others. 

“My father had a quadruple bypass 16 years ago, so heart problems are in the family. I can’t do anything about my genes,” he said, “but I did everything that I could to be healthy.”

On his way home from the ice one morning, Jerry felt odd and developed pain in his chest and back.

“My wife, Danielle, told me, ‘Let’s go to the hospital. Let’s go now.’ It was obviously the right thing to do,” he said. “At the emergency room, they gave me IVs, nitroglycerine and an EKG, and then rushed me in to have angioplasty.”
 
In the catheterization lab, Interventional Cardiologist William R. Felten, M.D., used a balloon catheter to open Jerry’s completely blocked left anterior descending artery and inserted a drug-eluting stent to keep it open. Two weeks later, he did the same for two more of Jerry’s arteries that were 75 percent blocked. 

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“It’s wonderful to make a difference for people like Jerry by offering a full range of cardiovascular procedures right here in Midland,” said Dr. Felten. “Our program is comparable to what you’d find at a large academic medical center and gives me access to some of the most advanced technology available. For example, if needed, I can get a 360-degree, real-time view inside the wall of a patient’s heart or blood vessel with intravascular ultrasound. By converting high-frequency sound waves to full-motion images, IVUS helps me diagnose the extent of plaque and position a stent inside the artery.”     

“People in the middle of Michigan used to travel up to 100 miles for heart care like this,” Dr. Felten said. “Now we have all the tools and capabilities at MidMichigan Medical Center–Midland to provide faster treatment and reduce or eliminate heart muscle damage.”

Just a few weeks after his close call, Jerry was able to start getting back to everyday life with Danielle and their two daughters, return to work, and even hit the ice for a light practice session.

“I’m glad we were just down the road from the Medical Center and its catheterization lab,” Jerry said. “I did not have any damage to my heart, and I could even have the follow-up procedure done at the same location, by the same cardiologist, Dr. Felten, who is fantastic."

It was his best fast break of the season.

Jerry's story is just one example of MidMichigan's beyond-the-cutting-edge technologies and physician expertise. Visit our Technology page to learn more about cutting-edge treatment at MidMichigan Medical Center - Midland.

If you or a family member has been diagnosed with heart disease, ask your doctor for a referral to a MidMichigan cardiologist, or call MidMichigan Health Line for physician referral at (989) 837-9090 or toll free (800) 999-3199. To learn more about cardiovascular services, visit www.midmichigan.org/heart.