Page 25 - PGA Comminty News - April '24

April 2024 April 2024 PGA C.A.N.!, Page 25
American Humane Raises $4 Million

At Sixth Annual Pups4Patriots Dinner Dance

Pups4Patriots™ Dinner Dance Honors The Donors,
Dogs, And Handlers Who Support American Humane’s
Commitment To Service Dogs For Wounded Warriors
It was an evening of altruism and newsworthy
moments, as more than 200 supporters of the nation’s
first national humane organization attended the Sixth
Annual Pups4Patriots Dinner Dance at Club Colette in
™
Palm Beach.
To kick off the event, a surprise gift of $500,000 was
made in honor of veteran’s advocate and champion of
American Humane’s Pups4Patriots program, Lois Pope,
by business leader Lloyd Schiller.
“No one has surprised me like this in a very long time,” Brian O’Connor, Dr. Robin
said Pope. “I am deeply humbled by your generous gift to Ganzert
our Pups4Patriots program, and you can be assured that your
contribution is going to help an awful lot of our military Dr. Robin Ganzert,
and first responders through this life-changing initiative.” president and CEO of
Also announced during the event, a show-stopping $3 American Humane, who Zachary Chappell and Winnie, Christina Itabashi and Freja, Dr. Robin Ganzert, Brian
million donation from the Kazma Family Foundation, which announced the major gift O’Connor, Thomas Mitchell and Joly
will serve as the seed gift for the new American Humane with members of the Kazma
Sanctuary located in Martin County. The new animal family, said, “Our mission with the American Humane didn’t do without her. I’m able
sanctuary will be a transformational rescue retreat for all Sanctuary is to give veterans who have graduated from the to go out and run errands and
animals and the residential home for the Pups4Patriots Pups4Patriots program a comfortable oasis to seek peace, do shopping without having to
service dog program. and a home where they and their service dog can further their leave the store in the middle of
journey together. This gift is an enormous leap in making that shopping and have even found
mission a reality, and to helping us rescue and protect many myself wanting to venture out
animals in need in a new Ark of Hope facility.” to travel more. I have gotten
To date, Pups4Patriots has delivered more than 300 more of a ‘normal’ life back
healing leashes into the hands of U.S. military veterans because of Freja and that has
– at no cost to them – thanks to the generous support of helped me so much.”
donors. Three of these heroes attended the event and shared Zack and Winnie. Zack
inspirational stories of how American Humane’s program is a U.S. Air Force veteran
was a life-changing experience for them. Their remarks are who served from 1999 to Florence Metzger, Tyler
as follows: 2021. During his service, he Moynihan
Christina and Freyja. Christina has served as a first was deployed to six overseas
responder, a wildland firefighter, and an EMT. She lives in locations and served as Special Ops and a Squadron
Idaho and was paired with Freya, a standard poodle. Superintendent. He has been paired with “Winnie,” a
“Freja has been the most wonderful partner for me. She is 1.5-year-old, female Labrador retriever.
Congressman Brian Mast, Joe Metzger and Meighan my best friend. Because of Freja’s ability to support me in so
David Webb McGowan many ways I have been able to go out and do things I couldn’t or American Humane Raises on page 26

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SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH CARE

Fewer patients face traditional open-heart surgery as

minimally invasive procedures continue to evolve.

By Valerie Staggs

When Dr. John Gibbon performed the first conditions is heart valve disease, which, as For Sabbah, these new structural heart
successful open-heart bypass procedure in the name suggests, relates to a defect in a treatments allow him to provide patients
1953, the medical world gained its first heart valve. “The heart has four chambers with the life altering results they are desper-
glimpse at the possibilities for treating this and four heart valves. Their function is to ately seeking. “One of the most rewarding
vital organ with innovative medical inter- open and close in harmony so that blood aspects of my specialty is offering pa-
vention. Today cardiac surgeons perform flows through the heart in the proper di- tients who aren’t feeling well the option
over 900,000 procedures annually and by rection,” explains Sabbah. A “leaky” valve of a minimally invasive procedure. In
2029, cardiac surgeries are projected to can cause blood to back up into the lungs most cases, they are feeling better in as
reach 1.3 million each year. The increase and elsewhere, at times causing significant little as a week. There is nothing better
is attributed not to open-heart procedures, symptoms of shortness of breath, dizziness, than that.”
but to more minimally invasive options and even sometimes chest pain.
now available to physicians.
New procedures such as TAVR (transcath-
While Gibbon paved the way for the use eter aortic valve replacement) enable car-
of open-heart procedures to treat serious diologists like Sabbah to fix valve defects
heart conditions, the introduction of new through minimally invasive methods. The
cardiovascular technologies in recent years TAVR procedure involves a small IV, typi-
has enabled patients to avoid the need for conditions that affect the structure of the cally in the groin area, to allow access to an
open-heart surgery in many cases. Today heart, specifically the heart’s valves, walls, artery. A catheter is then inserted into the
cardiologists are able to diagnose and treat chambers or muscles. These conditions artery and guided through that blood vessel
many heart conditions early before they can be congenital, meaning they have been to the heart where the clogged up valve is
lead to future complications. with the patient since birth, or they can be located. The new tissue aortic valve is then
caused by other adverse conditions in the deployed inside of the defective aortic valve.
“The landscape of cardiac care has body such as high blood pressure, an infec- The average TAVR procedure takes about
changed significantly over the past de- tion or autoimmune diseases such as lupus one hour, and most patients return home
cade,” says Dr. Michael Sabbah, an inter- or rheumatic fever. Simple aging can also the next day. Patients report a significantly
ventional and structural cardiologist at Ju- lead to structural heart defects. About 2.5% improved quality of life after the procedure.
piter Medical Center. “We are now able to of all Americans suffer from structural heart
treat defects and disorders of the heart be- disease. TAVR is just one of the treatment meth-
fore they lead to more serious conditions.” ods cardiologists now have available to treat
Thanks to recent developments in the treat- structural heart disease. Similar treatments Michael Sabbah, MD
The defects and disorders Sabbah refers ment of structural heart disease, cardiol- available include MitraClip and Am-
TM
TM
to are collectively known as “structural ogists like Dr. Sabbah now have a host of platzer Septal Occluder . Both involve To learn more, visit
heart disease,” a sub-specialty of cardiol- different options for treating their patients. putting a device in place to fix a structural
ogy. Structural heart disease is defined as One of the most common structural heart abnormality. jupitermed.com/cardiology.
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