Donald B. knows how to handle an emergency. He works in corrections at a maximum security facility, where he’s also a crisis negotiator. But when he began feeling short of breath in 2023, he thought he was simply moving too fast. It took time to realize he was heading for a crisis of his own.
“By October of 2023, it became a little more intense,” Donald says. “It happened when I was walking up and down steps and across the prison compound.”
In December 2023, Donald sought medical care. Tests showed blood clots in the arteries of his lungs – known as the pulmonary arteries – so his doctor prescribed a medication that helped to make the clots smaller. Donald started the medication and returned to work. But relief didn’t last long.
In April 2024, Donald’s shortness of breath became worse. He returned to his local hospital twice that month. Doctors there ran tests, but they couldn’t identify the problem. Then one of Donald’s doctors recommended he go to Temple — and sent him there by ambulance.
Answers — and a plan
At Temple, Donald finally got an explanation for his symptoms: chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).
CTEPH is a rare type of high blood pressure in the pulmonary arteries. It’s caused by blood clots that remain in the lungs for a long time, resulting in scar-link formation.
“The blood clots restricted the flow of blood to my lungs,” explains Donald. “They were causing my heart to work too hard. So I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure as well.”
Donald learned that the right side of his heart had expanded to about double the size of the left side.
As troubling as this news was, Donald trusted the Pulmonary Hypertension, Right Heart Failure, and CTEPH/PTE Program at the Temple Heart and Vascular Institute.
“It was the first time I had an actual plan of action and knew what was going on,” he says.
Donald started medication to help ease his symptoms. But Temple’s specialized CTEPH care didn’t stop there. Ahmed S. Sadek, MD, heart failure cardiologist, told Donald he might be eligible for pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE), a complex surgery that can significantly relieve CTEPH symptoms — and often cure the condition.
Expert, compassionate care
PTE is a complex surgery, and only a select few physicians and hospitals have the experience to perform it. But Temple has performed the most PTE surgeries on the East Coast. In fact, Donald was Temple’s 450th PTE patient.
And the care from Donald’s surgeon, Yoshiya Toyoda, MD, PhD, and everyone at Temple provided went beyond his expectations.
“It was just amazing all the way around,” he says. “They told me the goal was to extend my life. They were honest with me throughout the whole process.”
After the surgery, Donald began to feel better right away. All the attention the Temple team gave him helped, too.
