The cardiologist had called Brett Arnason in the departures lounge at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport. It was February 2013, and the 63 year old was on his way to compete in the World Masters Speedskating Competition in Munich, Germany.<\/p>\n
The results of an echocardiogram (ECG) test showed that Arnason had been born with a bicuspid aortic valve with two flaps instead of three. With age, the defect had started to restrict his blood flow. Surgery to replace his aortic valve would be booked as soon as he returned home.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a valve opening of 0.7 cm. If it were 0.6 cm, we would rush you to the Hospital,\u201d the cardiologist told him. \u201cCan you at least take it easy in Munich?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ever the competitor, Arnason came in third place. The cardiac surgery turned out to be his first of three at St. Boniface Hospital, two of them during the pandemic.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Arnason\u2019s wife, Marnie, says he\u2019s the type of guy who\u2019s always had this feeling that he\u2019s invincible; that he always finds a way to solve problems. Arnason is a pilot and has experienced near-crashes in airplanes. \u201cI\u2019ve never believed I\u2019m going to die. I get rattled, but never panic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Surgeons replaced his bicuspid aortic valve at St. Boniface in June 2013 with a valve manufactured out of BioTissue, innovative medical technology that did not require him to be on blood thinners. He was out of the Hospital three days later.<\/p>\n
Arnason went back to racing that November and continued for several years until he started having trouble keeping up with his training partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cI developed a chronic cough and acid reflux. I stopped racing in 2020,\u201d he said. \u201cI saw my cardiologist that June and my electrocardiogram (EKG) test was normal. We couldn\u2019t figure out what the problem was. Maybe I was just getting older.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later that same month, he woke up one morning with his head soaked in sweat. Feeling woozy, he sat down in his kitchen. \u201cI got back up and took a few steps. I don\u2019t remember what happened next, but I must have passed out. Marnie heard the \u2018thump\u2019 as I hit the floor \u2013 I was having a heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paramedics rushed him by ambulance to St. Boniface Hospital\u2019s Cardiac Catheterization Lab for emergency treatment. A little more than one hour after his wife called 911, he had a stent to unblock his right coronary artery and was already in recovery. (This lightning-quick, life-saving response was due in part to provincewide STEMI heart attack protocols that were developed and implemented through research funded by Foundation donors.)<\/p>\n
However, more unwelcome news was in store for him: his aortic valve was found to be failing and would have to be replaced.<\/p>\n
The surgery was at St. Boniface in late September. He was out of the Hospital four days later, a day longer than the previous time.<\/p>\n
The shaking started in January 2021. Arnason was feeling unwell again; he began to shake uncontrollably for up to an hour at a time. One day late that month, he went to St. Boniface Hospital\u2019s Emergency Department, where it was discovered his heart rhythm was abnormal.<\/p>\n
Blood tests produced more shocking news: a bacterial infection in his new aortic valve. A broad scope antibiotic took care of it, but too late: the bacteria had eaten the valve and destroyed heart tissue. Yet another cardiac surgery was in his near future, at 71 years old. He was also going to need a pacemaker, his doctor told him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me the valve replacement surgery this time was never going to be easy. The surgeons would have to build aortic extensions, a complicated and time-consuming procedure. It ended up taking four doctors almost 14 hours to complete, with 14 staff members on the team,\u201d said Arnason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found that every single one of the people I dealt with at the Hospital, from doctors\u2019 assistants to physiotherapists, know that they\u2019re good at what they do. I believe their confidence stems from the steadfast support that Foundation donors provide. With the support they get, they can do their utmost to make patients\u2019 lives better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Brett Arnason is grateful to be speedskating again. \u201cI can enjoy my family. I\u2019m a happy guy. I\u2019m golfing, flying airplanes, riding horses, and most importantly, I can play again with my grandson, Franklin.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Be a lifeline for cardiac patients like Brett Arnason. <\/p>\n
This article was originally published at STBHF.ca<\/a><\/em> – Original article here >><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Winnipeg speedskater returns to sport after heart attack, cardiac surgeries \u201cBrett, there\u2019s a problem with your aortic valve.\u201d The cardiologist had called Brett Arnason in the departures lounge at Winnipeg […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"views":585,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-content\/uploads\/articles\/Brett.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfJzkq-5V","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2742,"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367\/revisions\/2742"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imssc.org\/mstr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}