Only a few months after giving birth to her her first child, Sue got the frightening news that she had breast cancer. At only twenty-eight years old, she didn’t expect cancer to ever be part of her young motherhood experience.
Sue went through chemo and radiation to eliminate the cancer—and it worked. She beat breast cancer and was able to move on from that scary chapter of life.
Now, more than thirty years later, Sue is dealing with the side effects of the cancer treatments. She says her doctors believe that radiation therapy from years earlier contributed to the heart problems she’s been facing in recent years.
After years of careful watching, Sue’s cardiologist, Michael Minder M.D., determined it was time to replace one of three faulty valves in her heart. She explains that once the aortic valve starts to fail, the heart can enlarge if left untreated.
Understandably, Sue was anxious about having open heart surgery. When she was referred to Dr. Bruce Reid, M.D. for the valve replacement, her initial fears were put to rest. Not only did she learn about his impressive experience in the operating room, but his patients also gave him high reviews. After meeting Dr. Reid, she knew she was in good hands.
“It was evident to me that this guy saw me as a human being and as a person. That gave me a lot of confidence right there,” she explains.
Even with added reassurance things would be okay, Sue made sure to plan her Christmas and New Years celebrations with care. She gathered her family and friends for a memorable holiday season. She recalls, “I felt really good because I got to say ‘I love you’ to all my people before I went in.”
THE DAY OF SURGERY
On January 6, 2024, Sue went to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray for her valve replacement. From the minute she got up to the cardiac floor, she had people helping her with everything.
Amid the paperwork and intake, one interaction made a lasting impression on Sue. As she was getting settled into her hospital room and prepped for surgery, a nurse came in and started braiding her hair. It wasn’t part of the pre-op checklist; but the nurse knew that Sue would be in bed and unable to take care of her hair for the next week. She recognizes not every nurse would do that for her patients.
“She just wanted to make sure my hair wasn’t going to be tangled. … It was such a caring gesture that they would think of these little things,” she says through tears.
Getting wheeled down the hallway toward the operating room was a surreal experience. As the team was getting her settled into the bright room, Dr. Reid told her she would be okay. That’s the last thing she saw or heard before waking up in her hospital room.
RECOVERING FROM OPEN HEART SURGERY
Though recovering from surgery isn’t anyone’s idea of fun, the caregivers at Intermountain Medical Center made Sue’s stay comfortable and personal.
“I had the nicest nurses, the nicest housekeeping staff, the people that brought my meals—they were just the nicest people,” she raves.
One of the medications she had to take left her with a terrible taste in her mouth—an uncommon side effect. When she took a sip of cranberry juice, she says it tasted like sour sugar syrup. In fact, many things she ate over the next few months had a bad taste.
A nurse taking care of her went to her personal stash and brought mints for Sue to see if it would help relieve the bad taste in her mouth. That small act of going above and beyond meant a lot to Sue. “They were just so concerned with what was wrong,” she says.
A few days into her hospital stay, she recalls a rough day when she just felt really “icky and down.” A nurse named Chase came in, looked her in the eye, and said, “Give yourself some grace. You’ve just been through this life-altering surgery that is very hard on the body. Be kind to yourself! You’re fine! You’re going to be okay!”
Sue says Chase, coming to her in the hospital at that moment, got her through the rest of her stay in the hospital.
“From the time I went into the hospital to the time I left, I felt nothing but total care,” she states.
LIFE AFTER OPEN HEART SURGERY
The day Sue left the hospital she had a new lease on life. “It was such a bright, beautiful winter day. The sky was perfectly clear. And I thought, ‘Dang! I’ve got the rest of my life to live!’ It was kind of a reset on my life and how I wanted to spend the rest of it,” she says.
Recovery went smoothly. She rested up at home and slowly worked her way back to day-to-day activities. Today, she’s doing the things she loves, including astronomy, sport shooting, and designing.
As a Select Health caregiver, Sue knows what it’s like to work for an insurance company. And she also knows what it’s like to be a patient on the other side.
“I have this unique perspective that I’ve been able to see it from both the employee side and the member side. I know what it's like to be a member going through some big stuff,” she explains.
And on the other side, she was proud to be part of an organization that cares about their members. She recalls how easy it was after her surgery to focus on recovery. Intermountain and Select Health coordinated oxygen deliveries, home health visits to track progress, cardiac rehab appointments, and all of the billing associated with everything.
Sue says she was able to simply focus on getting better. Select Health and Intermountain took care of the rest.
LOOKING FORWARD
Though she had a successful valve replacement, there’s a strong possibility Sue will need more heart surgeries in the future because of the damage to her heart from radiation. She meets with her doctors regularly to keep tabs on her new valve’s function and to check in on the rest of her heart.
As she heads into retirement, Sue had to choose a Medicare plan knowing there’s a possibility of additional surgeries. Keeping her healthcare coverage as close to her employer-sponsored plan was important to her. After doing some market research, she decided to enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan from Select Health.
“I get to keep my current doctors that I am very happy with, and all the drugs I take are covered,” she explains.
HEALTH PLANS FOR NOW AND THE FUTURE
Whether you need a health plan now or want one for your changing future, Select Health can help. We have plans for families, employers, individuals, those eligible for Medicare or Medicaid, and more.
To find a health insurance plan that fits your life, visit SelectHealth.org/Plans or call 800-538-5038.
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