Life Changing Stories
Sarah's Story
Ringette is a fast paced exciting team sport played on ice. Sarah Pezzano had been an avid ringette player since she was 6 years old, and the exertion of this game had never resulted in any physical problems for Sarah.
At 17, Sarah ran in the 2007 “Run for a Cure” event for her school. After the run she complained of chest pains but believed it to be a muscular problem. Although her regular visits to her doctor had never revealed anything irregular in her heartbeat, her mother, Roberta, felt Sarah should go to emergency to verify the cause of her pain was not of a more serious nature.
Alarmingly, an x-ray showed a hole between the left and right atriums of Sarah’s heart. She was seen by a Cardiologist who told her she needed to get a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), an ultrasound of her heart, which was performed at St Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener. The results of this test confirmed surgery was required; however, there were discrepancies regarding whether the treatment should be done via open heart surgery or by going through the groin.
Sarah’s mom called Best Doctors
A co-worker at Roberta’s office reminded her that Best Doctors is part of their employee benefits package and told Roberta to call them. Nicole, a Registered Nurse and Member Advocate at Best Doctors answered Roberta’s call, gathered Sarah’s medical records and test results and forwarded these to a team of Harvard-trained physicians for comprehensive review. Once the team completed their review, they selected a Best Doctors specialist from the Best Doctors proprietary network of 50,000 renowned specialists to determine the final diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
HOW BEST DOCTORS HELPED
Roberta received the written report from the Best Doctors specialist who recommended that Sarah see
Dr. Lee N. Benson, the internationally renowned head of Intervention Cardiology at Sick Children’s Hospital in Toronto. Sarah got a referral to the specialist, who saw her in May. He recommended surgery through the groin, a minimally invasive procedure, to install an ASD Closure Device in her heart. The procedure was performed in July.
"Everything Dr. Benson did was superb. No overnight in the hospital, no stitches, nothing. Sarah is absolutely fantastic; the day following her surgery she drove to the mall and went shopping. Her life is good.
"I can’t find the words to say how wonderful Best Doctors was to us. They treated us kindly and with respect, they were professional and good to my family. I am so glad my co-worker told me to call
Best Doctors."