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A Year in Review 2012 – 2013:
Programs
Courage Lives Here
41
Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
Courage is...
keeping
faith
Family man thankful for FREEDOM
When Ravindran Jesuthasan first heard the news, he told
his wife, “I don’t think that I’m going to live long.”
Ravindran’s heart specialist told the 54-year-old he had
heart disease.
If he had surgery, he told his wife, “I may not come back.”
Ravindran is among the 1.3 million Canadians with
a buildup of arterial plaque that blocks blood flow. It’s
especially common for patients with diabetes, which
Ravindran was diagnosed with in 2009.
“I couldn’t sleep,” Ravindran said. “When I’d lie down my
legs and arms would ache.”
Couldn’t walk to church
While Ravindran’s pain was one issue, loss of indepen-
dence was another.
He could suddenly no longer attend church with his wife,
Mary Noyala Jesuthasan, and their two children, Robinson
and Emil. That’s because, since the family doesn’t have
a car, the pain and fatigue were simply too much for him
to make the walk.
Before heart surgery, Ravindran Jesuthasan said he was afraid to go anywhere alone for
‘fear of fainting, or worse’.
(Photo: UHN)
“I was afraid,” Ravindran said. “I was scared of going
anywhere alone for fear of fainting, or worse.”
The Scarborough, Ont., resident spent six months feeling
tired and dizzy. After seeing a number of physicians, he
was ultimately sent to the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.
Being referred to a heart specialist was worrying.
“He was disheartened by this news because it meant he
was quite sick,” Mary Noyala said.
Discovering FREEDOM
“Having both diabetes and coronary artery disease is
complicated for patients and for their physicians,” said
Dr. Michael Farkouh, Chair of the Peter Munk Centre of
Excellence in Multinational Clinical Trials. “Until FREEDOM,
nobody knew the best way to treat these patients.”
Dr. Farkouh is referring to the FREEDOM trial that was
published in The England Journal of Medicine in
November 2012.
In this large international study, Dr. Farkouh and
colleagues showed that bypass surgery is the preferred
treatment for patients with diabetes and more than
one arterial blockage.
Ravindran didn’t have one blockage, he had four.
“I’d never had surgery like this and I was scared,” he said,
noting that despite his fears, his care teamwas confident.
“Dr. Vivek Rao told me that since I have diabetes, bypass
surgery was absolutely the best option for me. He and my
family gave me the courage to face this surgery,” he said.
(
Continued on page 42...)
Leaders from Toronto General &Western Hospital Foundation, Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
and GoodLife Fitness (from left to right): Linda Goldsack, Barry Rubin, Sherry Grace, Bob
Bell, David Patchell-Evans, Caroline Chessex and Tennys Hanson.
(Photo: UHN)
“I’d never had surgery like this and I was scared.”
–Ravindran Jesuthasan
