The Larry King Cardiac Foundation

Patient Stories: Michelle

HELP OTHERS   LIKE MICHELLE

Michelle, a 52-year-old Georgia native, had her heart saved at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta. As an unemployed single mother, she would have been unable to afford the mitral valve repair for her chronic atrial fibrillation (chaotic electronic activity in her upper heart chambers) without the help of LKCF and her loving family. Her mother, a nurse at Saint Joseph’s, tended to Michelle’s care, supporting Dr. Doug Murphy, one of the leading cardiothoracic surgeons in the country. Dr. Murphy used the cutting edge Intuitive daVinci Robotic Surgical System to repair Michelle’s heart. The minimally-invasive robotic surgery inserts surgical instruments through four nickel-sized incisions and uses 3D vision, magnified 10 times that of a human eye, to repair her broken valves. For Michelle, this meant no telltale chest scar, and a faster recovery.