{"id":80875,"date":"2025-03-03T11:03:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T18:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=80875"},"modified":"2025-09-29T11:53:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T17:53:45","slug":"chance-meeting-leads-to-life-saving-atrial-septal-defect-repair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/chance-meeting-leads-to-life-saving-atrial-septal-defect-repair\/","title":{"rendered":"Chance meeting like winning the lottery for patient living with hole in her heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div><figure id=\"attachment_80889\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80889\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80889\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/03112144\/Belize-photo3web.webp\" alt=\"Jeannet Parham and her wife, Reagan, with their pets. Photo courtesy Jeanett Parham.\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-80889\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeannet Parham and her wife, Reagan, with their pets. Photo courtesy Jeanett Parham.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Life is full of surprises.<\/p>\n<p>For Jeannet Parham, a chance meeting with Lisa Meyers, a registered nurse at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/locations\/uchealth-memorial-hospital-central\/\">UCHealth Memorial Hospital<\/a>, was what she calls \u201ca moment of divine intervention.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt started at my birthday party,\u201d Parham explained. It was Nov. 12, 2024, and Meyers was on vacation in Hopkins, Belize, visiting a friend who lives there and was the host of a surprise celebratory dinner for Parham, who was turning 33.<\/p>\n<p>Parham, known to her friends as \u201cJay,\u201d expected a low-key dinner at the friend\u2019s home. Instead, she was greeted by shouts of \u201cSurprise!\u201d from several friends, along with one stranger &#8211; Meyers.<\/p>\n<p>After thanking everyone for the wonderful gathering, Parham made a remark that shocked everyone: Her heart can\u2019t take such surprises, and with her condition, she didn\u2019t know if I she would see another birthday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI never told anyone about my condition,\u201d she said. Only her wife, Reagan, knew about it.\u00a0 \u201cTo my luck, Lisa was there. This was my first time meeting her.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_80885\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80885\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80885\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/03111527\/Belizine-thank-you-sized.webp\" alt=\"Lisa Meyers, a cardiac nurse at UCHealth Memorial Hospital, displays a thank-you note she received from a patient she met in Belize. The patient received a life-saving atrial septal defect (ASD) repair at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. Photo: UCHealth.\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-80885\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lisa Meyers, a cardiac nurse at UCHealth Memorial Hospital, displays a thank-you note she received from a patient she met in Belize. The patient received a life-saving atrial septal defect (ASD) repair at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs. Photo: UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>An extremely large atrial septal defect, a hole in the heart&#8217;s wall<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Meyers, a cardiovascular clinical coordinator at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central and a nurse for more than 30 years, asked Parham, who was born and raised in Belize, to tell her more about her condition. \u201cAs a heart nurse, I wanted to make\u00a0sure she was getting it treated,\u201d Meyers said.<\/p>\n<p>After learning Parham had an atrial septal defect (ASD) \u2013 a hole in the wall of the heart that separates the heart\u2019s upper chambers \u2013 she told her new friend that perhaps she could help. \u201cI know someone who deals with this on a daily basis,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Parham had learned a few years earlier \u2013 in 2022 \u2013 that she had a congenital heart defect. Her general practitioner in Hopkins, a coastal village in southern Belize, suggested she go to Belmopan, the capital, for an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/services\/heart-and-vascular-care\/cardiac-testing\/\">echocardiogram<\/a>. Such a test would create a picture of the heart.<\/p>\n<p>The cardiologist in Belmopan, though, wasn\u2019t sure of the size of the ASD and suggested she go to Merida, the capital of Mexican state of Yucatan for further care. Additional tests in Merida showed an extremely large 3.8 cm hole in Parham\u2019s heart wall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey sent me away with that information,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n<p>ASDs are considered large if they measure 12 mm \u2013 or 1.2 cm. Parham\u2019s was more than three times that, and such severe cases put enormous stress on the heart and lungs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"su-callout-box col-xs-12 col-sm-6 right\" style=\"background-color:#dce4e7; color:#2e3b44;\">\n<p>UCHealth Memorial Hospital holds multiple cardiovascular certifications, accreditations and distinctions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>ACC (American College of Cardiology) National Distinction of Excellence:\u00a0 HeartCARE Center (7 years running)<\/li>\n<li>ACC TAVR Certification<\/li>\n<li>ACC Electrophysiology Accreditation<\/li>\n<li>ACC Chest Pain Center with Primary PCI and Resuscitation Accreditation<\/li>\n<li>AHA (American Heart Association) Get With The Guidelines Gold Plus &#8211; Heart Failure Designation<\/li>\n<li>2025 Premier Top 50 Cardiovascular Hospital<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>In a normally functioning heart, blood comes into the right side, where it is sent to the lungs to get oxygen. From there, the oxygenated blood comes into the left side of the heart and is pumped out to the rest of the body. Parham\u2019s heart, though, was allowing oxygen-rich blood to seep from the heart&#8217;s left upper chamber to the right upper chamber, putting immense stress on the right side of her heart.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Connecting with heart experts: Tackling a large ASD<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>When Meyers returned from vacation and was back at work at UCHealth Memorial Central, she stopped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/cihan-cevik-md\/\">Dr. Cihan Cevik<\/a>, an interventional cardiologist, in the hall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe mentioned to me, \u2018I have this friend who has an ASD, and they can\u2019t take care of it in Belize,\u2019\u201d Cevik recalled. He agreed to look at Parham\u2019s records if she could send them his way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter I reviewed the records from Belize, I knew exactly what she was going to go through,\u201d Cevik said. \u201cThis is a serious heart condition \u2013 that is what I told her on our video conference calls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Parham and Cevik talked three or four times via a WhatsApp video call. \u201cI told her this needs to be taken care of, and we are happy to take care of you here, in Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_80876\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80876\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80876\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/03110332\/leadphotoweb.webp\" alt=\"Jeannet Parham with her wife, Reagan. A chance meeting in Belize with a registered nurse from UCHealth Memorial Hospital turned out to be a life-saving encounter for Parham that led to the repair of a large hole in her heart, called an atrial septal defect, or ASD. Photo courtesy of Jeannet Parham.\" width=\"640\" height=\"422\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-80876\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jeannet Parham with her wife, Reagan. A chance meeting in Belize with a registered nurse from UCHealth Memorial Hospital turned out to be a life-saving encounter for Parham that led to the repair of a large hole in her heart, called an atrial septal defect, or ASD. Photo courtesy of Jeannet Parham.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>He also told her the condition could be life-threatening.<\/p>\n<p>Parham and her wife began researching flights to Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>In the days after her Dec. 30 arrival, Parham wasn\u2019t feeling well. With the altitude, her symptoms got worse. She was short of breath, pale and couldn\u2019t walk far. She was admitted to the hospital.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need to get this done right away,\u201d Cevik said, referencing a cardiac catheterization procedure in which he would insert a tube into a blood vessel in the groin and guide it to the heart, where he would then deploy a specialized device that would patch the hole.<\/p>\n<p>But a pre-procedure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/services\/heart-and-vascular-care\/heart-and-vascular-care-cardiac-imaging\/\">Transesophageal Echocardiogram<\/a> \u2013 another test that creates detailed images of the heart \u2013 came back with bad news.<\/p>\n<p>The hole in her heart measured 4.1 cm \u2013 too big for a <a id=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.heart.org\/en\/health-topics\/congenital-heart-defects\/care-and-treatment-for-congenital-heart-defects\/cardiac-catheterizations-for-heart-defects\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">minimally invasive procedure in the cath lab<\/a>. Another procedure would have to be done.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went back to my room, and a surgeon spoke to me. He told me that the procedure that Dr. Cevik wanted to do was not possible and it would have to be open heart surgery,\u201d Parham said.\u00a0 \u201cI went into surgery the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Heart specialists find best solution to fix heart defect<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/provider\/mark-b-douthit-md-thoracic-and-cardiac-surgery\/\">Dr. Mark Douthit<\/a>, a cardiovascular surgeon, was on call when it was determined the ASD could not be repaired with a catheter-based intervention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was not an emergency, but we felt the degree of urgency,\u201d Douthit said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJay had a congenital abnormality \u2013 this was there before she was born,\u201d he explained. \u201cNormally the heart, as we progress in utero, begins as simply a tube that folds on itself over time and creates a four-chamber muscular pump \u2013 the heart. Sometimes the septa, which as nature\u2019s dividing walls between the upper two chambers and lower two chambers of the heart, doesn\u2019t develop, and that was her problem.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_80897\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80897\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80897\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/03112833\/Dr.-Cevik.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Cihan Cevik, interventional cardiologist with UCHealth, was the first to tell Parham that there were options to repair the large whole in her heart's wall.\" width=\"200\" height=\"254\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-80897\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Cihan Cevik, interventional cardiologist with UCHealth, was the first to tell Parham of the options to repair the large hole in the wall of her heart.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cOver time, this can cause the heart to fail and people even to die, and that\u2019s why such a large defect needs to be fixed. In fact, hers needed to be fixed many, many years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Douthit used bovine pericardial tissue \u2013 commonly used in many types of surgeries \u2013 to patch the hole. \u201cThe whole operation probably took 3 hours,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese days we hardly ever operate (for an ASD) and are able to close it without having to open the chest,\u201d said Douthit, who has been practicing cardiothoracic surgery since 1989. \u201cDr. Cevik did the analysis and diagnostics and figured out what best to do. I was just the mechanic and sewed a patch in. This was a simple procedure that hopefully will allow her to live a normal lifespan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Parham spent six days in the hospital before being discharged. She is back in Belize and back at her job as a property manager for vacation rentals.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_80891\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80891\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80891\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/03112515\/Belize-photo12web.webp\" alt=\"Jeannet and Regan at UCHealth Memorial Hospital following a life-saving atrial septal defect repair. Photo courtesy of Jeannet Parham. \" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-80891\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Regan and Jeannet at UCHealth Memorial Hospital following a life-saving atrial septal defect repair. Photo courtesy of Jeannet Parham.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI am indebted to the entire surgical care and nurses,\u201d she said. \u201cThe nurses and doctors who took care of me \u2013 they were very attentive. I feel like that\u2019s what made the entire journey, the entire experience easier to handle. I had people around me who were supportive and caring.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cevik predicts Parham is going to be feeling great. \u201cThis was a life-saving procedure for this young person. It\u2019s what we do. \u201c<\/p>\n<p>Now that she\u2019s back home, she\u2019d like to try all activities tourists enjoy in her home country. \u201cMaybe hike and try snorkeling,\u201d she said \u2013 things she couldn\u2019t do because she was always short of breath.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_80899\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-80899\" style=\"width: 200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-80899\" src=\"https:\/\/uchealth-wp-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/03\/03113123\/Dr.-Mark-Douthit.webp\" alt=\"Dr. Mark Douthit specializes in thoracic and cardiac surgery at UCHealth. He lead the surgery for the atrial septal defect repair.\" width=\"200\" height=\"255\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-80899\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Mark Douthit specializes in thoracic and cardiac surgery at UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI do love nature. I do love outdoors. There are so many things I wanted to do that I was afraid of doing. Now the world is my oyster again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before leaving the hospital, she and wife Reagan expressed their sincere thanks to the care team.<\/p>\n<p>Each was given a thank-you card and an engraved keychain that reads, \u201cMay you be proud of the work you do, the person you are and the difference you make.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Douthit was very touched by the gesture and calls Parham\u2019s story \u201cprovidential.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel blessed to do what I do, but it helps to have wonderful care providers, nursing staff, ancillary care staff members who always go above and beyond, treating our patients like they are family. There\u2019s not a patient I see here who doesn\u2019t remark when they walk out the door how wonderful the staff is, so we have to applaud all these people.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know Jay will never forget us here and will remember always this wonderful hospital in Colorado Springs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Life is full of surprises. For Jeannet Parham, a chance meeting with Lisa Meyers, a registered nurse at UCHealth Memorial Hospital, was what she calls \u201ca moment of divine intervention.\u201d \u201cIt started at my birthday party,\u201d Parham explained. It was Nov. 12, 2024, and Meyers was on vacation in Hopkins, Belize, visiting a friend who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":85936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[9242,3512,9243,82,3300,1511],"class_list":["post-80875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-cardiothoracic-surgery","tag-heart-and-vascular-care-cardiovascular","tag-heart-and-vascular-care-cardiac-imaging","tag-heart-and-vascular-care-cardiology","tag-heart-surgery-treatments","tag-uchealth-memorial-hospital"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - 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