Fort Myers woman undergoes 3 surgeries with 13% success to mend broken heart

Heartbreak comes in many forms, but not all of them are romantic. One Fort Myers woman visited HealthPark Medical Center to mend her broken heart.

Over the span of six years, Reba George’s heart was failing. Only she didn’t know it until the situation became dire.

When George arrived at HealthPark Medical Center, it was worse than she imagined.

“She had a valve issue, mitral valve. She had clogged arteries. Then she had an irregular heartbeat. Half of the blood that the heart was trying to pump was pumping backward,” said Doctor Paul Digiorgi, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Lee Health Heart Institute.

Digirogi said it took weeks of care before they could safely repair George’s broken heart.

“If you can stabilize them and get them to feel a little bit better and improve some things, then you can reduce the risk of surgery,” said Digirogi.

Once George was strong enough, she underwent several complicated operations. It meant hours in the ER. The Lee Health Heart Institute specializes in these procedures.

“We do the coronary bypass grafting first. Then we start the ablation for the atrial fibrillation, and then we eventually get to the mitral valve repair,” said Digirogi, “we have an extremely high percentage of mitral valve repair versus replacement for patients who have a valve that is amenable to that approaching 100%.”

“So that meant three surgeries in one and I only had a 13% chance of coming out of that surgery,” said George.

The massive surgery was a success. After about a week of recuperating, George went home. Only to return to the same hospital a short time later.

This time, she came back as a volunteer.

“It’s the happiest I’ve ever been probably my whole life,” said George. “They saved my life. You want to give back to people.”

Now, George lives with a grateful heart.