Todd and Heart cont....10-2-11

From the moment he arrived at Cleveland Clinic, Todd was surrounded by the most experienced and professional staff in the business. He had shipped his own medical records to them 30 days prior. They told him straight away the procedure he had come there for was not for him. He was hoping to have a new aortic valve implanted without open heart surgery. A successful study had demonstrated that it could be done via a catheterization method. The doctors said that it was for 80 year old men who were on their last legs, not Todd. Besides, they pointed out, Todd had at least four blocked arteries, and his MITRAL valve (the one between the heart chambers) wasn't looking too good either. They began to prep him for open heart surgery immediately. There was just a tiny problem, however. The leader of the team, the surgeon with an infallible track record, was in South Africa! His staff implored him to come back stat, but he MISSED the first flight out! The last words I heard from Todd were "The general consensus here is that I'm hanging by a thread, (gasp), can't talk anymore, gotta go." Then he hung up.