Hometown Health Newsletter: Western Region ... - Mayo Clinic

Gilbert Picken, pictured
with his wife Joyce and
dogs Sara and Angel,
received a clean bill of
health after heart surgery
at Mayo Clinic. “Dr. Hansen
told me after surgery that I
might be good for another
20,000 miles,” says Picken.
Working together to provide quality cardiac care
When Duwayne Hansen, M.D., suggested
that Gilbert Picken might need coronary
bypass surgery, the 80-year-old Fairmont
resident had one question.
“Would they do that for someone my age?”
The answer was yes.
Picken had come to see Dr. Hansen, a
family physician at Mayo Clinic Health
System in Fairmont, because he’d begun
experiencing chest pain when he exerted
himself. Dr. Hansen recommended Picken be
evaluated by Arashk Motiei, M.D., a Mayo
Clinic Health System cardiologist based in
Mankato who also sees patients in Fairmont.
At an appointment later that month,
Dr. Motiei ordered an X-ray and sonogram
of Picken’s heart. After reviewing the results,
Dr. Motiei determined Picken needed further
testing. An angiogram was scheduled in
Mankato.
“An angiogram provides a view inside
of the blood vessels in the heart,” says
Dr. Motiei. “The exam showed Mr. Picken
had significant blockage in two areas and
needed bypass surgery.” Picken had surgery
on Dec. 23, 2010, at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
“Surgery went very well,” says Picken.
But on the day he was to leave the hospital,
he began experiencing atrial fibrillation,
an irregular, often rapid, heartbeat.
Nevertheless, Picken felt he was ready to go
home. One of the physicians caring for him
suggested otherwise.
“One of the doctors told me, ‘If you were
my father, I’d want you to stay another
night,’” recalls Picken. “It made me feel good
that he thought of it that way.”
Picken took the doctor’s advice. But his
recovery wasn’t complete. Once back home
he began cardiac rehabilitation at Mayo Clinic
Health System in Fairmont.
“Cardiac rehab is an exercise and
education program to help people recover
after heart surgery or heart attack,” says
Donna McMurty, a cardiac rehabilitation
nurse who worked with Picken. “We make
sure people make a safe return to activity.
We also reinforce the education they received
while they were in the hospital.”
Picken says he’s feeling stronger each day.
He’s looking forward to going golfing this
summer — and walking the course.
“Dr. Hansen told me after surgery that I
might be good for another 20,000 miles,”
says Picken.
McMurty bets he’ll go at least that long.
“Gilbert has got a lot of living left to do,”
she says. •
“Cardiac rehab is
an exercise and
education program
to help people
recover after
heart surgery or
heart attack.”
Donna McMurty
www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org | 5