When the Doctor Becomes a Patient

Just about everyone involved with HCM has heard the name Dr. Barry J. Maron.  Dr. Maron has devoted his entire career to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and has been perhaps the physician most associated with HCM, having gotten his start in the 1970s at the National Heart Institute.

In a brand new autobiographical essay by Dr. Maron, he retells his recent experience being diagnosed and treated for heart failure. 

When Dr. Maron experienced edema, difficulty lying flat, and trouble breathing, he rationalized it all away until he experienced a terrifying and life threatening episode, and even then, he decided to call an Uber to take him to the hospital instead of an ambulance! 

Once hospitalized, doctors were able to get to the root of his problem and treat Dr. Maron appropriately. Having received the proper care, he is now feeling much better.

Dr. Maron’s article concludes with three main takeaways:

  • Physicians should not diagnose themselves;
  • Heart failure is treatable; and
  • Listen to your cardiologist and live a healthy lifestyle!

Doc With HCM Himself Was Myectomy Pioneer

Pioneer-Face-300px

Pioneer by Camgee https://openclipart.org/detail/218350/pioneer

This story is fascinating.  Dr. Andrew  Morrow, a cardiac surgeon at the National Institute of Health from 1953 until his death in 1982, was a HCM patient himself. Dr. Morrow was the first surgeon to do myectomy surgery.  According to the article, Dr. Morrow was diagnosed by his colleague, Eugene Braunwald, at approximately the same time he pioneered myectomy surgery.