A heartfelt “Thank you”

We say “Thank you” hundreds of times a day without even thinking about it, but there are times when those words are truly heartfelt. This is one of those times.

In the winter of 2014, my dad suffered a dissection of his ascending aorta. Thanks to the quick work of the healthcare professionals at IU Health Bloomington Hospital, LifeLine helicopter transport, and IU Health Methodist Hospital, he survived after an extensive open procedure. Following the procedure, we were informed that, although he had a new aortic valve and a repaired aorta, he still had an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and chronic dissection. Physicians suggested another 10-hour open procedure, but thanks to my background at Cook Medical, I knew there were other options.

I shared this story with Johnny LeBlanc and Alejandro Hernandez, product managers with the Cook Aortic Intervention team, and they graciously introduced my family and I to expert endovascular physicians and helped us make important connections.

Fast forward to the fall of 2017, when my dad and I visited Dr. Andres Schanzer at UMass Memorial Medical Center and enrolled in his physician-sponsored investigational device clinical trial for complex aortic aneurysm repair using Cook’s custom-made aortic stent grafts. I am happy to say that my dad’s procedure was successfully completed in early January this year. Amazingly, he was discharged from the hospital just three days later. He is back home in Bloomington now and recovering wonderfully.

Without the incredible work that Cook does and the fantastic employees that make it a great company, my family could be in a very different position right now. So, I would like to say thank you. Not only to the employees who built my dad’s devices, but to everyone at Cook. We all touch patient lives, whether we know it or not.

Thank you for giving my dad the opportunity to watch his grandson grow up.

Thank you for giving me more time to make memories with my dad.

It is easy to get caught up in day-to-day life, but please know that we at Cook are absolutely making a difference in lives every day.