Page 33 - Southern Exposure - March '25

Southern Exposure, Page 33

clevelaNd cliNic

florida News

Heart Transplant Gets Physician Cyclist Back On The

Trails After Years Of Progressive Heart Failure

Jaime Rodriguez, M.D., a maternal-fetal medicine “I had suffered so much that I was welcoming the idea
specialist at a healthcare system in South Florida, has by then,” Dr. Rodriguez says of overcoming his fear of
dedicated his career to taking care of others. But when he the transplant. “I knew I had no choice – it was this or I
was the one who needed help, his colleagues in medicine wouldn’t make it.”
were there for him. A suitable donor heart become available 10 days after
In 2007 Dr. Rodriguez, a former competitive cyclist, he was admitted to the ICU. “It’s hard to describe how it
was out on one of his regular early morning bike rides felt to get that news,” Dr. Rodriguez says. “I realized how
when he collapsed on the road. He required cardiac lucky I was.”
resuscitation on the scene and was rushed to Cleveland Nicolas Brozzi, M.D., and Cedric Sheffield, M.D,
Clinic Weston Hospital where his cardiologist, Howard performed a complex cardiac reoperation to replace his
Bush, M.D., performed a coronary catheterization that worn-out native heart with a healthy donor heart. Dr.
revealed a blocking of the stents he had received six Rodriguez’s recovery was gradual, but steady, and he was
years earlier. An intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) was discharged from the hospital within two weeks.
implanted, and he was rushed to the operating room where One year after his heart transplant, Jaime Rodriguez, M.D., “He was determined to get through this operation and
he underwent quadruple coronary bypass surgery. He had (center) was back to working full-time, walking, running move on with life, back to his family and his work,” says
suffered a massive heart attack on that ride, which severely and cycling. Dr. Brozzi.
damaged his heart. One year after his transplant, Dr. Rodriguez was back
Dr. Rodriguez, who was 50 at the time, had been and live a happy life. So, I thought, ‘Let’s not think about to working full-time, walking, running and cycling. He
dealing with coronary artery disease since he was 43 years the transplant now.’” says exercising is easier now than before and he can do at
old. “I had gone back to cycling and riding my bike at a By May of 2020, Dr. Rodriguez had been dealing least as much as, if not more, than anyone else his age.
competitive level to improve my heart health,” he says. with worsening episodes of arrhythmia and had been Dr. Rodriguez has become very fond of his care team
But his predisposition to heart disease was strong – both hospitalized frequently over six months until one night, at Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital and looks forward to
his father and his grandfather had died from it, at 52 and which he described as a “nightmare,” when he had eight seeing them at his follow-ups.
53 years old, respectively. episodes of arrhythmia. He’d had enough. His wife called “The cardiac transplant team provides very personalized
Dr. Rodriguez’s health remained stable for several years 911 and he was taken to Weston Hospital. care,” he says. “They make you feel special. I am very
after the biking incident. The damage to his heart, however, “I am very grateful to the organization and the transplant grateful to the organization and the transplant care doctors
slowly progressed to heart failure and malignant arrhythmia, care doctors – they have become my friends and partners – they have become my friends and partners in this ride of
requiring the implantation of a cardioverter-defibrillator in this ride of a lifetime.” a lifetime.”
and advanced heart failure management under the care of Dr. Rodriguez’s heart muscle had deteriorated to the The Transplant Center at Cleveland Clinic in Florida
cardiologists at Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital. point where a transplant was the only solution. He was builds upon the longstanding success of the world-
“My prognosis was that the damage would worsen admitted to the ICU, where he was intubated for a few renowned Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Patients receive
with age,” he says. “I had a feeling I was going to end up days and then required an IABP support to stabilize his the highest-level medical care from top experts in organ
needing a transplant – it was always in the back of my condition while he waited for a donor heart that would be transplantation. Visit ClevelandClinicFlorida.org/
mind. But I was doing well, still able to ride a bike, work compatible for him. Transplant to learn more.