Mount Maunganui man Trevor Egerton has been told he is too high risk for open heart surgery. Photo / Mead Norton
Mount Maunganui man Trevor Egerton has been told he is too high risk for open heart surgery. Photo / Mead Norton
Trevor Egerton is becoming “gradually shorter of breath” as he waits to hear if funding will be granted for a $90,000 medical procedure.
While he waits, the 74-year-old Mount Maunganui man is considering dipping into his retirement saving for the procedure.
Egerton has a “ruptured” mitral valve that is leaking into his heart and causing breathing problems.
One option was open heart surgery, however, he has been told he is too “high risk,” as it may lead to a fatal heart attack or stroke.
The other was a MitraClip procedure, which involves a clip going through the groin and being attached to the mitral valve but it is not publicly funded and comes with a $90,000 price tag.
Egerton put in a request for funding at Waikato Hospital but was calling on Health New Zealand to introduce public funding for it, as it is important for him and others in need.
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand said it was setting up a new national process to review and assess new health technologies, including the MitraClip procedure, to ensure all Kiwis could access it “no matter who you are and where you live”.
Mount Maunganui man Trevor Egerton has been told he is too high risk for open heart surgery. Photo / Mead Norton
In May 2018, Egerton had open heart surgery at Waikato Hospital to replace an aorta valve because he was having blackouts.
The operation was successful, however, in May 2021 during a routine follow-up appointment, it was discovered that a mitral valve was leaking into his heart, causing him breathing problems.
He met with a team of specialists at Waikato Hospital who said doing open heart surgery again was “high risk” and could possibly lead him to have a fatal heart attack or stroke.
Egerton was advised the only available option was the MitraClip procedure and was considering paying for the procedure himself. The money would come out of his retirement savings which he admitted was “a bit of a blow”.
Egerton has put in a request at Waikato Hospital for it to consider applying for funding for the MitraClip procedure. He has also contacted local MP Sam Uffindell who has been “very responsive” and the National Party’s health spokesman Dr Shane Reti about his situation.
Egerton, who is a semi-retired consultant, said: “In the meantime, I’ll just get gradually shorter of breath.”
The procedure would “cure the whole thing,” he said.
“If I don’t get it, it’s going to cause me problems with [shortness] of breath so that could determine what my longevity is.”
Asked when he would make the call and decide if he will pay for it himself, Egerton said he had time.
“At the moment I’m not really too badly affected by my shortness of breath. I’ve been advised to continue to exercise even though it makes me short of breath to start with, for example, walking, swimming, playing golf, so it does affect your lifestyle but I’m not crippled or bedridden or anything like that.”
Dr Raj Nair, a heart specialist at Waikato Hospital, said technologies were being proposed that would help patients who needed procedures that were not publicly available.
He said Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand was putting processes in place to assess and expedite some of these technologies.
The technologies would help heart disease patients by offering them “similar clinical outcomes” with less risk and be cost-effective.
Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand chief medical officer Peter Watson said heart disease was a “key priority area” in its Te Pae Tata interim New Zealand health plan 2022 - a plan which sets out the first two years of health system transformation to improve the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders.
Watson said it was committed to improving outcomes for people suffering from chronic health conditions.
“Te Whatu Ora Hospitals and Specialist Services Team is setting up a new national process to review and assess new health technologies, including the MitraClip procedure to ensure all New Zealanders can access these new technologies, no matter who you are and where you live.”
The work involved expert clinicians from a range of relevant specialties and would start next year, he said.
Watson said patients could apply to access one-off treatments not otherwise funded in the public health system through their local hospital network. A clinical specialist could also apply on behalf of their patient for one-off treatments available only overseas through the Te Whatu Ora high cost treatment pool.
Another Tauranga resident’s “life-changing” heart surgery as the Heart Foundation seeks volunteers
Tauranga man Doug Hosking was backpacking in Mexico in 2015 when he noticed he was getting tired and out of breath very easily. He saw a heart specialist in Mexico who prescribed him some medication but advised him to get it looked at in New Zealand.
“I took it easy for the next few months, but I wasn’t getting any better and still felt short of breath when exercising. Then in 2016 I ended up in hospital in Tauranga and had a stent put in, which still didn’t seem to solve the problem.”
Doctors found a blockage close to his heart and told him something needed to be done immediately.
“So in March 2016 I was transferred to Waikato and I had heart bypass surgery, which was a huge deal for me.”
Hosking’s mother died in 1993 during heart bypass surgery when the doctors could not restart her heart. It took a lot of courage for him to accept that this was the only solution.
“And there was a part of me that was scared about the risks, but the alternatives were even worse so I had to go through with it.
“Thankfully the operation all went to plan and once I got home it was plain sailing.”
He slowly increased the amount of exercise he did each day. He tries to walk a few times each week.
Now 67, Hosking is retired and will be volunteering for the Heart Foundation Big Heart Appeal on February 24 and 25.
“It’s a good cause because people don’t realise but an awful lot of Kiwis have heart issues. I’m just trying to do my part and want to help increase the funding they receive in any way I can.”
Heart disease is New Zealand’s single biggest killer, claiming the lives of more than one person every 90 minutes. Heart disease can happen to anyone, anywhere at any time. But by coming together and volunteering in the community, the Heart Foundation can raise vital funds for life-saving heart research.
