TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
Vonnie underwent her second heart surgery on September 25, 2023, at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas
Pants and Shoes courtesy of Dillard’s, Top courtesy of Lindsay Kate Designs
In 2005, Vonnie moved to West Monroe, Louisiana, for college, where she joined the youth staff at The Pentecostals of West Monroe church, where Seth Hale also attended on Wednesday nights. His cousin, Shay, was determined to set up the pair and slipped Vonnie’s phone number to Seth. “He called me later and asked me out for the following Tuesday,” recalled Vonnie. They didn’t realize it at the time, but their first date was providentially set for Valentine’s Day. “I got super nervous, not knowing what the expectation was for a first date on Valentine’s Day,” she said. However, they more than survived those first-date jitters and quickly knew they were destined to be together. At the start of college, Seth planned to follow in the footsteps of his “Uncle Doc” and become a chiropractor. “Uncle Doc offered to pay my way through college and give me his very lucrative chiropractor practice,” said Seth. It wasn’t until a professor challenged that thought. “You could be a chiropractor, but I think you could do more,” he said. With those crucial words, Seth shifted his thinking and made his way to medical school. After deciding to become a doctor, choosing a specialty is rarely straightforward. Seth compares the intense challenge of trying to get your bearings in the first year of medical school to drinking from a fire hydrant through a straw. In his second year of medical
school, he was in a cardiology module, learning about the heart and cardiovascular system. Bringing school home, he practiced what he was learning by listening to Vonnie’s heart. “I felt a whirlwind of emotion hearing the murmur, and it spurred me to speak to the dean of my college about what I heard,” explained Seth. The dean of his medical school set Vonnie up with the head of cardiology the next day. Upon further review, the echocardiogram, a noninvasive procedure that uses sound waves to create images of the heart and blood vessels, revealed severe aortic insufficiency. It was decided Vonnie would need a transesophageal echo to get a better look. “Fortunately, being at a medical school with a loved one who is sick affords you great access to world class doctors quickly, and when Vonnie became short of breath, I knew it was time to take her to the hospital,” said Seth. At the time, the Hales happened to be in San Antonio, and found Dr. John Calhoun, acclaimed as the best cardiothoracic surgeon in the world. “He was awesome, and I know he saved my wife’s life through the surgeries he performed,” said Seth. Vonnie’s first open heart surgery came in September 2010, when Dr. Calhoun performed the Bentall procedure on Vonnie. The Bentall procedure is a cardiac surgery that treats aortic conditions by replacing the aortic valve and ascending aorta with a synthetic graft and prosthetic valve. It’s considered the gold standard for
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