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HEART & VASCULAR INSTITUTE
Free screenings for heart
health
Glendale Adventist Medical Center brings you free heart-
health screenings:
■
Blood pressure and cholesterol screenings at the
GAMC Heart & Vascular Institute [HVI] every Tuesday and
Thursday, 8 AM to 1 PM.
■
On-site GAMC cardiologists are available for same-day
appointments.
The Heart & Vascular Institute is located in the Lee
Hughes Medical Building on the hospital campus:
1509 Wilson Terrace, Suite 201, Glendale, CA 91206
Get your free screening today! Call the Heart & Vascular
Institute at
(818) 863-4099
for a free 15-minute screen-
ing with a registered nurse. For more information about
GAMC’s HVI, visit Ad
ventistHealth.org/Glendale/Heart
.
DOING GREAT!
THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER,
Glendale Police De-
partment Lt. Steve Robertson passed his annual flight
physicals with flying colors. A helicopter pilot since 1992
working the department’s air support unit, Robertson
gave close attention to his health and always kept himself
in top shape for rigorous assignments.
However, about six years ago he received unexpected
news. An echocardiogram performed in a Glendale Ad-
ventist Medical Center (GAMC) mobile van during a
routine screening at the Police Department detected a
small aneurysm near his aortic valve.
In Robertson’s favor, the aneurysm was small. “I felt
fine…I had no symptoms,” he emphasizes. Under the
care of GAMC cardiologist Joseph Lee, MD, the condi-
tion was closely monitored. There would be no change
until the fall of 2014.
“I began to feel fatigued and run-down,” he recalled.
Tests determined that the aneurysm was starting to grow.
Dr. Lee referred Robertson to Randall Roberts, MD,
GAMC thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon.
“There was a danger of aortic dissection—which is
when an aorta tears,” explains Dr. Roberts, who led a
GAMC surgical team that conducted a successful, six-
hour open-heart surgery. “The treatment was to replace
both the valve and aorta—where we take a conduit made
of cloth and connect it to a valve, which we get from an
animal, and put it into a position where those structures
were. It’s an unusual, complex surgery.”
GOING HOME
Six days post-op, Robertson was dis-
charged from the hospital. Following a steady recovery,
he hopes to return very soon to flight duty in the air sup-
port unit that covers the Glendale–Burbank area.
“The surgery went well; we are just delighted with the
outcome,” Dr. Roberts says. Meanwhile, Robertson stays
in touch with Dr. Lee, who adds, “Steve is doing great. He
progressed quicker than most people. He knew about the
surgery in advance and what to expect, and he understood
the recovery process to improve his outcome.”
Glendale Police Department
pilot is a proud poster child
for preventive medicine
An aortic aneurysm is a bulge in a section of
the aorta, the body’s main artery. The aorta
carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the
rest of the body. If the aneurysm grows, it can
get overstretched and weak—and it may burst.
Asked how the aneurysm occurred, Dr. Roberts ex-
plains, “Unfortunately, it’s just bad luck. Both the aorta
and aortic valve were degenerating with time—we don’t
know the exact reason why. It doesn’t have anything to
do with environmental factors or habits.”
Integral to Robertson’s success is GAMC’s Heart & Vas-
cular Institute support team, including Parisa Khorsandi,
chest pain coordinator, and John Deyell, cardiovascular
clinician. They covered every step of his journey from
pre-surgery to post-discharge.
“We do a lot of face-to-face education and communi-
cation with patients and families,” Deyell explains. “Our
compassionate care really helps!”
Robertson says he’s proud to become the Glendale
Police Department’s “poster child” for being attuned to
warning signs that may affect good health. “Pay attention
to your body,” he urges. “It doesn’t lie.”
‘WORLD-CLASS CARE’
“I have had many contacts with
your fine organization over the years,” Robertson wrote
in a follow-up letter to Kevin A. Roberts, GAMC presi-
dent and CEO. “This includes the birth of all three of my
children at GAMC. My twins were born prematurely and
spent 11 days in your neonatal intensive care unit after
my wife went into preterm labor and was admitted for
the final month of her pregnancy.”
He adds, “All of these successes have come from a
world-class hospital that gives world-class care. We have
received the highest level of care and service all the way
from the admitting clerk to my cardiothoracic surgical
team.”
Robertson also gave special credit to Denise Miller,
senior program director, for her support before and dur-
ing his surgery, which was “quite a stressful time for my
family—she was there for us until my discharge—even
as I walked to our car.”
“It’s so great to work at an organization that empha-
sizes family-centered care,” Miller says. “This allows us
as GAMC associates to step in and contribute when a
patient needs us most.”
IN GOOD HANDS: From left are John Deyell, cardiovascular
clinician; Denise Miller, senior program director; Parisa
Khorsandi, chest pain coordinator; Lt. Steve Robertson,
Glendale Police Department; and cardiologist Joseph Lee, MD.
Aorta exiting
the heart
Thoracic
aortic
aneurysm
P r e v e n t i v e M e d i c i n e
Cardiovascular
surgeon
Randall
Roberts, MD,
and Lt. Steve
Robertson.
“I’m a firm believer in preventive
medicine and listening to my body.”
—Lt. Steve Robertson
H Q
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