Page 26 - Indulge February/March 2017
P. 26
Listening to
Her heart
Major events pass
patient by until
heart surgery
A fter graduating high school, Photos courtesy of Easton Hospital
Katherine Malia moved from
Wilson Borough to Berkley in San can lead to blood clots, stroke and The tests showed Katherine
Francisco during the summer of 1969.
heart failure. had a rare blood disorder called
The city was at the height of
free-love, war protests and civil rights “I often felt a shortness of breath, methemoglobinemia where the
riots. She let all of that pass her by
as she focused on going to college tired and flushed,” she says. “I treated hemoglobin in her blood can carry
and starting an accounting job. Much
later, she also missed the big 1989 my A-fib with medicine, but the results oxygen but not distribute it to the
earthquake that shook the city.
were never sufficient.” organs in the body.
After living on the West Coast for
nearly 25 years, she did miss her family. As her mitral valve worsened, She began to turn blue, particularly
So in 1994, she moved back to the
Lehigh Valley. doctors also discovered a 70 percent her lips. Khalighi was astonished, but
“My family was concerned,” she says. blockage in an artery. In May, she diagnosed it quickly. She was treated
“If I got sick or if something happened,
they didn’t want me to be alone.” scheduled open heart surgery with immediately and the condition improved.
Their advice was timely. Upon cardiothoracic surgeon Richard As a precaution, Katherine was admitted
returning home, Katherine had a
series of eye surgeries. Next came Angelico, MD to clear the blockage and to the ICU until her color returned.
a gallbladder surgery, or what she
refers to as “being a victim to pork repair the valve. The best part was her next visit to
and sauerkraut.” But then the big
one happened that she didn’t miss: “Dr. Angelico is the salt of the Earth,” Khalighi’s office. She was feeling great
her heart.
she says. “He is so kind, gentle and and decided to tease him, so she put
As a child, Katherine had rheumatic
fever. A common side effect of the caring, taking the time to explain things blue make-up on her lips.
infection is a weakened mitral valve
— the valve narrows, doesn’t open and be present to patients.” “I’ve learned in life to keep things
properly and blocks blood flow into the
main pumping chamber. The surgery light,” she says. “Like when I pranked
It was a condition she lived with went well and my nephew who works in the wrestling
for most of her life. But it was being
aggravated by arterial fibrillation, she felt better. entertainment industry by pretending
or A-fib, an irregular heartbeat that
Still, she lived to head-butt him. I then put on make-
with A-fib. up to make others think he gave me a
That’s when black eye.”
she began to see She thanks God for her humor.
cardiologist and Faith was something she missed for
Koroush Khalighi, MD electrophysiologist many years too.
at Easton Hospital.
26 | indulge • February/March 2017 Koroush Khalighi, “When I returned to my faith in the
MD. He scheduled ’90s, God called and I answered,” she
two tests: an echocardiogram of her says. That’s when Katherine left her
heart to evaluate the success of the corporate job for a two-year stint at
valve surgery and a cardioversion to the Catholic Board of Education in
shock her heart back into rhythm. the Bahamas.
“He does things well, but I like to tease Since that day, she hasn’t missed
him,” she says. “I call him the Tasmanian much … whether listening to her
Devil; he can move in five directions at heart, following its lead or finding an
once and each at 100 miles per hour.” opportunity to make others smile.
