Dr. William Martinez, MD Cardiac Surgery - Cardiovascular diseases are very common globally and almost 528 million people are suffering worldwide. You are likely to come across someone in your surrounding with a heart disease. There are also chances that you might know someone who has underwent bypass heart surgery and they might have shared their uncomfortable journey of recovery.

But fortunately, the science has come a long way and heart bypass surgery can be conducted with minimal incision or major cutting. This was first-hand experience by Ida Foraker of Enfield. She explained, “I never experienced too much pain. All I felt was mostly discomfort”.

With the help of Tylenol, her discomfort was managed but what Ida was unaware until recently was of the fact that she was born with a medical condition known as Atrial Septal Defect. In this condition, there is whole in the wall of heart and this was the reason behind frightening palpitations Ida was experiencing.

She said, “The feeling of racing heart was pretty scary for me sometimes because my heart would be beating so fast that I could only listen the pounding blood in my years and I would have no idea what would happen in the next breath.”

If she was left untreated there were high chances that she would have suffered a stroke.

Her doctor recommended an open heart surgery to treat her condition but the surgery was an altogether new experience for her.

“We will only make incision of about two to three inches,” Dr. William Martinez, MD Cardiac Surgery at St. Francis Hospital explained to her.

This was completely different from what all of us including Ida have heard about the open heart surgery in the past.

Dr. William Martinez, MD Cardiac Surgery elaborated, “In a traditional open heart surgery, the breastbone or sternum is fully cut open and divided. So incision made in open heart surgery equals that size of the sternum” that is approximately i2 inches.

The minimally invasive heart surgery was first time performed by the Surgeons of St. Francis Hospital in Connecticut. Now this technique is commonly used to treat heart valve issues and septal defects of heart.

Dr. William Martinez, MD Cardiac Surgery commented, “Minimally invasive heart surgery is great new tool to treat people and the period of recovery after this surgery is a big advancement in comparison to traditional open-heart surgery.”

“This procedure does not pose any limitation outside of the pain. People can easily return to their normal life and start working once they feel they can get back to work.” According to Dr. William Martinez, MD Cardiac Surgery, “Patients are able to recover and feel much better within two weeks.”

It was not easy for Ida to believe all this since she has witnessed her husband undergoing double bypass surgery some ten years ago.

Ida was amazed and said, “This procedure is just like a miracle. One can never expect that such a surgery can be performed at a small scale. It is enough to blow one’s mind.”

Ida has noticed that she is no more experiencing racing heart since the surgery and she is very thankful for that. She said, “I am aware of my limits. I know what I can manage to do and what I cannot do.”

Dr. William Martinez, MD Cardiac Surgery expects the incision to become even smaller in the next io years to come.