RETIRED principal Bob Chaplin has become the first patient to have an interventional procedure at Port Macquarie Base Hospital’s specialised heart laboratory.
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And he couldn’t be more thankful.
“I’m absolutely awed and so grateful to the staff and cardiologists who have worked on me,” Mr Chaplin said.
The 80-year-old’s coronary angiogram showed a narrowing of a major artery.
That led to a placement of a stent on July 18, which marked the first interventional procedure at the cardiac catheterisation lab.
Mr Chaplin paid tribute to the medical team.
Interventional cardiologist Dr Sze-Yuan Ooi from Prince of Wales Hospital performed the interventional procedure with Port Macquarie-based interventional cardiologist Dr Kristian Prados working alongside him.
Mr Chaplin didn’t have to leave his hometown for the procedure.
“Going to Sydney with its complications for family wanting to see you can be difficult,” he said.
Mr Chaplin said he wanted everyone to know that Port Macquarie and district had a magnificent cardiac catheterisation laboratory.
“People should have confidence they have such a facility here and cardiologists who can handle it all well,” he said.
“I couldn’t believe how cooperative, caring and skillful the cardiac staff were.”
Mr Chaplin said he had a new lease of life.
The cardiac catheterisation laboratory was part of the hospital’s $104 million expansion.
A decade-long push for a cardiac catheterisation laboratory paid off with the inclusion of the facility in hospital expansion plans in 2010.
The cath lab initially provided diagnostic coronary angiograms and has now added interventional services or the placement of stents.
A coronary angiogram is a procedure used to look for blockages in arteries and diagnose coronary artery disease.
A stent is placed inside a coronary artery, when needed, to open a blockage.
Interventional cardiologist Dr Kristian Prados said the first interventional procedure at the cardiac catheterisation laboratory was a huge milestone for the area and a very exciting time for cardiology in Port Macquarie.
The cardiac catheterisation laboratory has been operational for 12 months as a diagnostic service.
Dr Prados said more than 550 patients had undergone diagnostic procedures in that time who otherwise would have had to travel elsewhere for the procedure.
Travelling away from home adds to stress levels and brings the burden of additional costs at an already difficult time.