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Stories Behind the Scars - Three men share their minimally invasive surgery experience. - 02/08/2008 -
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C. Joubert
Mitral Valve Repair, November 16, 2007
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J.C. Joubert | J.C. Joubert has spent just about every day of the past 31 years overseeing the operations of his company, J.C.’s Wrecker Service. At 72, he has no plans to retire and little inclination to take a vacation. “I love what I do,” Joubert says.
A leaking mitral valve had this energetic man facing heart surgery and a long recovery. J.C. took the initiative to contact Dr. Jones after hearing from a friend. “Luckily, I found out about Dr. Jones,” says Joubert. “Some friends had heard him speak at a seminar and told me about the procedure. I was scheduled to see another doctor, but I gave Dr. Jones a call instead. I was very excited.”
When asked if he was nervous about the operation, which would be performed with the assistance of the da Vinci robot, Joubert replied, “Not at all. I wasn’t concerned. I put my trust in the Lord, 100 percent, so there was no need to worry. Plus, Dr. Jones said he’d done 200 of these surgeries before coming to Lafayette, so I felt that I was in good hands. He’s a wonderful doctor.”
Joubert went home after four days in the hospital. “I was back working on my computer after about one to two weeks. If I’d had the other procedure (sternotomy), I probably would still not be feeling too good. When I think about what it could have been like, cutting open my chest, I get the ‘frissons’,” says Joubert. For those of you new to Cajun culture, the ‘frissons’ means that little shudder when you think of something fearful. For most of us in Acadiana, we understand completely.
Gerrvis Carron
Aortic Valve Replacement, October 11, 2007
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Gerrvis Carron | Like the other men in these Stories Behind the Scars, Gerrvis Carron had no trouble showing off his scar. It’s not that he wanted the attention; in fact, he would just have easily avoided the spotlight. But his good experience, and his respect for Dr. Jones, made him willing to show his scar—and share his story—if it could help others. Carron was alerted to a heart problem when he couldn’t control his blood pressure; it would go up and down. After the leaky valve was discovered, Dr. Mounir monitored his heart for some time until the leaking had to be fixed with surgery. “Dr. Mounir mentioned Dr. Jones and this new procedure, and I didn’t know what to think,” says Carron. “He (Mounir) told me that the small incision was a dream compared to the traditional surgery, and that made me feel better. I had never heard of the procedure, or the da Vinci robot. After a long discussion with Dr. Jones, I felt better and we scheduled the surgery. He is so easy to talk to, and explains things very well.” Carron stayed in the hospital five days before heading home. “The surgery went well, much better than I thought it would,” continues Carron. “I didn’t have much pain at all. They sent me home with pain pills (prescription), but they didn’t agree with me. So I just took Advil.” To date, he’s had no other problems, and was recently discharged from Jones back to the care of Mounir and his primary doctor.
Floyd Dugas
Aortic Valve Replacement, October 10, 2007
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Floyd Dugas | Floyd Dugas likes to jokingly warn people that he might begin to ‘moo’ at any moment. “They replaced my heart valve with a cow valve. When I asked Dr. Jones if I might start to ‘moo’, he said, ‘No, but you may get the urge to graze!’. You know, he’s just like everybody else; he makes you feel comfortable.” Dugas’ cardiologist, Dr. Mike Mounir, told him a couple of years ago that he would need to have his aortic valve replaced eventually. When his heart began to enlarge, and medication didn’t work, Mounir sent Dugas to Dr. Jones. “I wasn’t too concerned about the robot,” says Dugas. “I have a lot of faith in Dr. Mounir, so with his recommendation I felt good about Dr. Jones. I knew, too, that a small incision would be better; I have a friend who had open heart surgery a few years back, and his long scar still hurts him sometimes.” Dugas is feeling good these days, despite other problems after his valve replacement. He had to have a procedure to correct a heart arrhythmia, in addition to hernia surgery. “The hernia surgery was worse than the valve surgery,” laughs Dugas. “My chest never really hurt; in fact I only took Tylenol when I got home from the hospital. In about two weeks I was feeling just about back to normal. Looking back, before the surgery, I was getting tired easily and didn’t even realize it.” |
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