TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
Vonnie Hale with her husband of 17 years, local interventional cardiologist Dr. Seth Hale Vonnie’s Top courtesy of Lindsay Kate Designs, and Pants courtesy of Dillard’s
aortic root replacement. It was then Vonnie’s heart valve was replaced with the heart valve of a pig. “I had not considered cardiology until I watched Vonnie come out of surgery and into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). She was in the ICU for three days and intubated for one. I remember sitting there thinking how
barbaric this entire process had been and thinking there must be a better way,” recalled Seth. So, while sitting in Vonnie’s hospital room, Seth pored over medical journals. “One of the ways I deal with the fear of the unknown, basically my mental defense mechanism, is learning everything I can and overcoming it with knowledge,” he said. That’s where he first read about replacing heart valves through the leg using a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), which is a minimally invasive procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve. “I realized, in an altruistic light, that there was a different way to replace aortic valves… less invasive ways. That’s when I was certain of what I wanted to do. This is the future,” recalled Seth. So, when Seth moved on to The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for his Internal Medicine Residency, his focus was clear. Subsequently, in every rotation, be it pediatrics or obstetrics, he was encouraged to keep an open mind and consider other specializations. But there was never any further doubt in his mind. “When I’m driven to do something, just like that professor who motivated me to consider something more, I knew I would stop at nothing to do it.” Another motivating factor for Seth choosing cardiology was knowing Vonnie would have to have surgery again. The best way he could think of to care for his wife was to be prepared and know exactly what to do when the time came. “If anything ever happened to her, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself,” he said. “I couldn’t stand thinking there was some way I could’ve done it better…. I just didn’t want to be in a conundrum of not knowing which way to go.” Vonnie recalls the moment from early Fall 2023 when she was pulling out her fall decorations. “My Apple watch was alerting me that my heart rate was jumping up to 150+ (beats per minute) for no reason. I love to decorate, but after each crate, I would have to stop and catch my breath. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was actually deteriorating right there,” she said. Seth remembers it like it was yesterday. Vonnie called and explained she was short of breath and described the precordial thrill or a buzzing sensation in
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