Lakewood Regional Medical Center
Sophisticated Heart Care, Close To Home
Mending broken hearts of every kind is the specialty of The Heart & Vascular Center at Lakewood Regional Medical Center (LRMC). Over the last three years, LRMC has expanded its range of cardiovascular services, acquired new technology, recruited elite specialists and implemented best practices in cardiovascular care. The result? LRMC has earned accolades from the AmericanHeart Association and exceeds performance standards for the treatment of heart attack patients in Los Angeles County.
That wasn’t exactly at the top of his mind when Bob Stauffer learned he needed to have his aortic valve replaced last December. When the retired 68-year old went to see his doctor complaining of chest pain, tests revealed that the opening inside his aortic valve was the size of a pinhole. Doctors recommended immediate surgery but Bob preferred to wait until after Christmas. “I wanted to be able to enjoy the holidays,” he recalls. “But with the procedure I ended up having, I could have been home and feeling fine way before Christmas.”
His doctor prescribed medications and cautioned Bob to take it easy during the holidays. When Bob went in for his valve replacement on December 28, cardiac surgeon Daniel Bethancourt, MD opted for a less invasive approach. Normally, the type of surgery Bobneeded requires the surgeon to make a long incision in the middle of the chest and saw through the breastbone. Instead, Dr. Bethencourt performed a minimally invasive procedure through a three inch incision between the ribs. “The keyhole approach shortens a patient’s hospital stay by several days and results in less pain, a shortened recovery and quicker return to normal activities,” states Dr. Bethencourt. “While this surgery is not necessarily new, it is a viable alternative for certain types of patients and may eventually become the standard of care for this type of procedure.”
The average length of stay for patients having valve replacement is seven days, but Bob was out of the hospital in three. “I had no pain after surgery, and I was back to normal the next day,” he remembers. “I had great care at Lakewood Regional. The nurses said I was the poster boy for a quick recovery---they had never seen anyone recuperate so fast!”
Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement is just one of many sophisticated procedures being performed daily at LRMC. The hospital is a STEMI receiving center for heart attack patients as designated by Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services, and is one of the county’s top five performing centers on an annual basis. The American Heart Association has recognized LRMC’s STEMI receiving center with its Mission: Lifeline Bronze Performance Achievement Award, an honor that only 76 hospitals nationwide have earned.
For Bob, what matters most is being back to normal and enjoying his retirement. As a woodworker, he appreciates the precision with which Dr. Bethencourst performed his surgery. “Right after my operation, there weren’t even any visible stitches. And now, instead of having a ‘zipper’ down my chest, my scar is almost invisible. I couldn’t have asked for better care---or for a better surgeon."