| "This is silly to admit, but I love the beach," said Didi Terbrak, who is in her 30s and enjoys trips to Aruba. "I didn't want to have that huge scar from my neck all the way down; I have watched open-heart surgery as a student and I was aware of the scar." Terbrak, an ICU nurse, had a genetic defect that resulted in a mitral valve prolapse with mitral insufficiency. After a near-death episode, a MRI found that her problems were valve related and had progressed to an echo regurgitation. I had asked my cardiac surgeon, who doesn't do many valves in this area where I live in a small town in Missouri, just outside St. Louis, who he would send his wife to, and he said without hesitation, did I have any qualms about going to New York? He had trained with Dr. Galloway, and he knew about his research. He called him right on the spot," said the enthusiastic and greatly relieved Terbrak. Terbrak said that NYU made all arrangements as to where her family would stay while she underwent the operation. She said her primary concerns were "quality of life and a good outcome." She said she was impressed with NYU, "down to the housekeeping staff." |
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