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Every heart has a story…
Time made all the difference in the world
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Jenny Bailey
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
Jenny Bailey was the picture of health. At 32, she was in
great physical shape and worked out often. On the night of
July 7, 2011, she suffered an ischemic or blocked-vessel stroke.
Her face drooped and she was suddenly paralyzed on one
side of her body. Her boyfriend immediately recognized
the symptoms, called 9-1-1 and she was transported by
ambulance to a local hospital for emergency care. She
was later transferred to Westchester Medical Center
for an emergency endovascular procedure. Doctors
threaded a tiny camera to her brain through blood
vessels in her leg and removed the blockage.
Today, she has full use of her arms and legs and
is back to teaching and leading her normal,
active life thanks to this life-saving procedure at
Westchester Medical Center.
Celebrating a new heart
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Rosemary Sinnott
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
Every heart has a story…
As a spouse, Rosemary Sinnott was used to being a partner
to her husband Peter. They spent their lives together,
building a family and a successful real estate management
company. When her husband was diagnosed with heart
failure and told that he would need a heart transplant,
she became his partner in healthcare as well.
Learning everything she could about his illness,
listening to everything the doctors had to say
about his condition—even when doctors at
another hospital told him he might not get
a transplant, she stood by his decision to
find a hospital that would help him. After
coming to Westchester Medical Center
and receiving his transplant, Peter has
gone back to his life. With Rosemary by his
side, he went skiing just six weeks after his
transplant and then he completed the NYC
Marathon, 11 months later at the age of 70—
and at the finish line was Rosemary cheering
him on!
Every heart has a story…
Roberta Mayer
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
As a mother, Roberta
Mayer was used to
watching the clock,
worrying like any mother
when her young son was
away from home. But nothing
prepared her for the clockwatching she endured when
her son, a full-time college
student and avid soccer player
and coach, needed a heart
transplant. So many questions
about where to seek treatment,
finding a heart and surviving the
surgery were answered at Westchester
Medical Center. “Once we had him at
Westchester Medical Center, we had a
sense of direction and comfort – and that the
decisions they made were the correct ones. We
were in good hands.” Together with her husband,
they cared for Christopher post-surgery, watching the
clock at night and checking on him. Now, Christopher
does his own clock-watching while student teaching,
coaching soccer and visiting with heart patients to share
his story and give them hope. And the memory of all those
sleepless nights faded when Roberta saw Christopher
graduate college in May with a teaching degree, just six
months after his transplant. It was a goal she worried he
wouldn’t score.
Her goal: a new heart for a young life
Every heart has a story…
A healthy heart adds to the memories
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Jillian Galasso
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
A child of a parent suffering from heart disease, Jillian Galasso
was just a freshman in high school when her father’s heart
problems began. Although away from home she stayed close at
heart. As a college student away at school she found herself more
often than not, “checking up on” her dad rather than “checking
in” with him. The cardiomyopathy eventually took a toll on her
father’s heart and he was listed for a lifesaving heart transplant.
Jillian and the family began to document his journey to a new
heart in a scrap book. Jillian, her mother and family were there
by his side when he received the gift of life—a donor heart at
Westchester Medical Center. Her sense of worry, which had
been with her for 10 years, had finally been put at ease.
Next summer at her wedding, her father will walk her
down the aisle. To Jillian, that would be the greatest
gift of all—and the perfect memory to add to their
scrap book.
Every heart has a story…
Three cheers for a healthy heart
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Cassidy Manning
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
Cheerleading helped save Cassidy Manning’s life. It was during a routine
physical for her competitive cheerleading team that Cassidy’s pediatrician
identified there was something wrong with her heart. An examination
by a pediatric cardiologist at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at
Westchester Medical Center determined Cassidy had an atrial septal
defect, a condition that was corrected at the hospital with openheart surgery. Today, you would never know Cassidy once had
a large hole between the chambers of her heart. She is back
to being her spirited self, dancing and competing with
her teammates in tournaments around the country.
Now that’s something to cheer about!
Every heart has a story…
Repairing big heart problems in little patients
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Dr. Irfan Warsy
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
Dr. Irfan Warsy has a medical degree, but he’s also an “electrician.”
You see, the heart has its own unique electrical system and when
its current does not flow properly, Dr. Warsy uses special tools
to fix the problem. These special tools (like the cardiac catheter
held by Dr. Warsy, left) can be found in the state-of-the-art cardiac
catheterization lab at Westchester Medical Center where this pediatric
electrophysiologist at Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital uses imaging and
minimally-invasive techniques to repair large heart problems in small
children. And he does so in a way that can sometimes send his patients
home that very day. With such special tools and techniques, it’s no wonder
this electrician is in such high demand.
Every heart has a story…
Toddling to a happy ending
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Tyrus Castrovinci
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
Dianna Miranda knew her baby would be born with
Tetraology of Fallot, a serious congenital heart
defect, and that someday he might need surgery.
That someday came when Tyrus was just four
months old, suddenly turning blue from oxygen
levels falling dangerously low as a result of his
heart defect. His six-hour surgery was a success
and he was discharged after just one week at
Westchester Medical Center’s Maria Fareri
Children’s Hospital. Today, Tyrus is an active,
happy, healthy toddler. His scar is the only
outward sign of his heart surgery story
which began and ended, happily, at the
children’s hospital for the Hudson Valley:
Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at
Westchester Medical Center.
Every heart has a story…
Two of hearts
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Dr. Steven Lansman and Dr. David Spielvogel
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
Westchester Medical Center Heart Surgeons Dr. Steven
Lansman and Dr. David Spielvogel are literally at the
heart of lifesaving surgery. The duo has performed more
than 70 heart transplants at Westchester Medical Center
since 2006. More than 70 patients, some of whom
might never had survived, more than 70
families, who today might not have their
loved one, their parent, their spouse or
their child, had it not been for them.
Their patients come from every area
of the Hudson Valley and beyond and
represent every walk of life, every socioeconomic demographic and every age
group from 18-70 years old. And while
their patients are all very different, they
all share one common connection; as
one heart transplant patient puts it, “At
some point, one of them, has had a hand
in each one of us.”
Nurses who care for heart patients with ventricular
assist devices and heart transplants are a special
breed. Nurse Practitioners Liz Stevens and Kathy
Brown are two of Westchester Medical Center’s
dedicated transplant team nurses, caring for
advanced heart failure patients from evaluation
through transplant. They are with patients and
their families through all the milestones in
the heart transplant process, on call 24-7 to
assist. They are part of the team that evaluates
not only prospective transplant patients but
their donors as well. They are mobilized
with the surgeons when a donor organ is
located and they are a phone call away
in the middle of the night for a posttransplant patient with a question. To
Liz and Kathy, it’s the toughest but
most rewarding job in healthcare.
The long hours are all worth it when
they get to see a patient going home
for the first time after having a heart
transplant or blowing out the candles
on a cake on what some patients call
their “re-birthday.” To their patients
these are not just nurses, they’re
family—and like family, Kathy and Liz
were there every step of the way.
Every heart has a story…
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by:
Nurse Practitioners
Liz Stevens and Kathy Brown
Photo: Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
The heart of a partnership
The American Heart Association - Westchester/Fairfield Division presents
Every heart has a story…
A Survivor Gallery sponsored by Westchester Medical Center
An inspiring photo exhibition of nine stories of courage, strength and hope.
Thank you to the individuals and families who chose to share
their experiences to raise awareness about heart disease.
American Heart Association Mission: to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.
The AHA’s national impact goal is: by 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by
20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent. www.heart.org
Westchester Medical Center Mission: to serve as the regional healthcare referral center providing high-quality
advanced health services to the residents of the Hudson Valley and the surrounding area. In support of this primary
mission, Westchester Medical Center also serves as an academic medical center committed to education and research
that enables advanced care and prepares future generations of care-givers. www.westchestermedicalcenter.com
Photographs
by:
Venture Photography, Greenwich, CT
Mary and Angelo
DiMartino
Survivor Gallery
Sponsored by: