Ray Pinnix owes his life to a flat tire on his pickup, in the middle of an ice and snowstorm, in the middle of February.
It was while trying to change that flat tire that the 78-year-old Maben man became so short of breath that he thought he was going to pass out and landed in the Emergency Room at North Mississippi Medical Center-Eupora.
He thought he had COVID-19 but his actual diagnosis was excess fluid on his lungs and he was sent home with a prescription for the diuretic Lasix. That visit would lead to an appointment with interventional cardiologist Dr. Hemraj Makwana at BMG-Columbus Cardiovascular Care in Columbus, who would place a stint in Pinnix’s heart on Feb. 23.
Makwana also diagnosed Pinnix with aortic stenosis, or hardening of the aortic valve of his heart, something Pinnix said he had never heard of. The condition reduces or blocks blood flow from the heart into the main artery to the body (aorta) and to the rest of the body. Without treatment, severe aortic valve stenosis can lead to death.
As the owner of a busy lawn service, Pinnix’s wife, Marie, said family members had been noticing his increasing shortness of breath for about six to eight months but thought it was heat related. ‘Our grandson, who worked with him, would say “I think Papaw is getting too hot,’ ” she said.
After the February flat tire incident, after his cardiac issues were finally identified, Pinnix said all he could do was “sit at home and watch TV”. He did manage to drive the four to five miles to Maben about twice a day to visit with “the boys,” his wife added with a laugh.
Pinnix explained that “the boys” are a group of four or five friends who have known each other since high school who, when “out loafing around” drop by a local business in Maben to talk and drink a soft drink. He laughingly calls it “an old man’s hangout.”
Baptist Golden Triangle cardiologists agreed that Pinnix was a candidate for the transcatheter aortic valve replacement, a minimally invasive heart procedure to replace his faulty aortic valve. Baptist interventional cardiologist Dr. Eric McClendon and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Stewart Horsley performed the Golden Triangle’s first TAVR procedure on Pinnix on May 17. He went home the next day.
The minimally invasive procedure involves delivering a new aortic valve to the heart through either a thin wire or tube that is inserted into the body through the femoral artery in the groin or into the large artery in the chest through a small incision. The new aortic valve is inserted without removing the old diseased valve. Once the new valve expands, it pushes the old valve out of the way and takes over the job of managing blood flow. Before the TAVR procedure, aortic valve replacement usually involved cracking open the chest and a five- to six-day hospital stay, chest tubes, lots of pain and an extensive recovery period.
Pinnix said he could tell an immediate difference once he had the procedure. While TAVR might not be the right choice for everyone one, it definitely was for him, he said.
“I see a certain amount of danger to it, but you’ve got to take the risk,” he said. “I feel like there are a lot of people walking around with it and don’t want to have it done. It’s worth it. You won’t be laid up in the hospital for months,” he said.
Once he is off driving restriction, he and his wife plan to travel. While they might not return to their favorite overseas destination, the Holy Land, because of the large amount of walking required, both agree the United States has plenty of sights to see.
“I’m going to G-O! She can go if she wants to,” he said, with a laugh and a nod to his wife.
