A 39-year-old man from the Philippines recently had open-heart surgery thanks to the Altoona Area Rotary’s “Gift of Life” program, Altoona Hospital and the community at-large.
Last week, Victorino Diola took time to thank the area rotaries including Tyrone’s and the community including a Hollidaysburg couple which housed him after his discharge from the Hospital.
“I promise to keep ‘the family’ – the Rotarians, Altoona Hospital administration, medical staff, and employees, (Henry and Dr. Christina) Dimapilis and family and all the other contributors-in my heart for as long as I live,” said Diola. “I hope that others can be inspired by their true generosity.”
According to an Altoona Hospital press release, he acknowledged that there is no way he can repay the many individuals who worked so hard to restore him to health – except by praying for their welfare daily.
The Blair County rotaries brought Diola here in early June to benefit from a program which has aided more than 5,000 children throughout the United States since its inception in 1975.
The Gift of Life is a Rotary International free care program with a primary purpose of helping needy children who require corrective heart surgery. The operations are done through donated medical assistance, volunteer support and generous donors’ contributions.
The program, as noted, mainly benefits children. Of course, Mr. Diola is an adult; and that’s where the local rotaries came into play in coming to his aid.
In 1999, Altoona Rotary-Sunrise members Jack Murray and Judy Boerger, Altoona Hospital’s senior vice president of nursing, began the Altoona Area Rotary “Gift of Life” program. It is one of only three adult “Gift of Life” programs in the United States in operation. It has grown to include members from all four Blair County Rotaries.
“We provided financial assistance and were willing to do more if there had been a need, said Kelly Wike of the Tyrone Rotary Club.
There had been some need for housing for Diola after his discharge, according to Wike. However, she explained that was taken care of when a doctor on staff at the hospital, Dr. Christina Dimapilis of Hollidaysburg, agreed to house Mr. Diola during his recovery.
“The program (on a national level) started in Long Island, most of the projects involve children,” said Wike.
However, in Blair County, the focus is on adult patients, since the lead doctor on the team works exclusively with adult heart surgeries.
The “Gift of Life” program is also starting to send doctors overseas to perform the surgeries, so patients don’t have to travel to receive the procedures.
In Diola’s case, he arrived in Blair County in early June, accompanied by his sister Melina Guitierrez.
A heart catheterization performed at Altoona Hospital on June 7 determined that Mr. Diola would need both his mitral and aortic valves replaced because they leaked.
Cardiac Surgeon John Anastasi, along with his partner, Dr. Burt Fazi performed the surgery on June 8. The surgery required two separate procedures. First, the surgeons had to take care of two leaking heart valves that caused extreme shortness of breath and debilitating weakness for Diola. Then, Dr. Anastasi performed the Modified Maze procedure.
According to the release from Altoona Hospital, the Modified Maze procedure corrects refractory heart arrthymias. The doctors accomplished this by positioning a special cauterizing wire around the heart. The wire comes into contact with predetermined and specific areas of heart muscle that are sending out incorrect electrical impulses. This procedure corrects an irregular heartbeat.
The Modified Maze Procedure is new to this region, it’s been in use for the last several months and has been performed successfully on area patients at the Hospital.
The two surgeons who performed the procedures have been a part of Altoona Hospital’s open-heart surgery team for nearly 15 years,
The press release noted Diola received the “gift of life” surgery valued at $80,000, through the efforts of the Altoona Rotary-Sunrise Rotary and its leadership.
The program was made possible by partnering with many different contributors, in addition to Altoona Rotary-Sunrise, the county’s three other rotaries also played a role. Those clubs are the Rotary Club of Tyrone, the Rotary Club of Altoona and the Rotary Club of Hollidaysburg.
Other organizations and individuals who assisted in the effort are as follows:
Rotary Foundation, Congressman Bill Shuster and Staff, the staff of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Institute of Central Pennsylvania, Inc., Dr. Anastasi; Dr. Fazi, Dr. Americo Anton, Dr. E. R. Karunaratne, Dr. Mark Keating, Dr. Alan Ford, Dr. Domenico Falcone, Dr. Wen-Min Chuu, Altoona Hospital Board of Trustees, medical staff and administration as well as its auxiliary and employees.
Others who aided in the effort were Mr. Jim Barner, Blair Medical Associates and Mr. John Brown, Henry, Dr. Christina Dimapilis and family, Sheetz Corporation and Aviation, Kopp Drug, Home Nursing Agency, HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Altoona, Hampton Inn, Steve Tressler and Mountain View Studios, Vipond Sign Shop, WIX PIX Productions, Altoona Curve, Roaring Spring Bottled Water, Slinky Action Zone and Penn State Altoona.
“Altoona Hospital provides $4 to $5 million annually in free care to Blair County and surrounding regions,” according to James W. Barner, the hospital’s president and CEO. “Utilizing the medical expertise of our hospital for this partnership was an honor for us.”
The hospital said it was “proud to have extended its free care program for (the) important international partnership.”
Diola was discharged from Altoona Hospital on June 15 and has since continued his recovery at Henry and Dr. Christina Dimapilis’ residence in Hollidaysburg.
Diola, a vocational technology teacher, and Ms. Guitierrez, a teacher and mother of six, will return to the Philippines later this week.
