Ray Tollefson, 89, shares about his WW II D-Day experience and how his present-day Transcather Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) allowed him to attend 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Tollefson, who owned a luxury car dealership in Detroit, not only survived the war, he went on to live a full, happy life, which continues today, after successful treatment of a failing aortic valve with a minimally invasive heart procedure at the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center.
The procedure, called transcather aortic valve replacement, enabled Ray to fulfill an important wish: to travel to France this year to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
Tollefson was suffering from aortic stenosis which usually results from aging. But the WWII veteran was among those often considered too old and too frail for open heart surgery to fix their failing aortic valves.
Doctors replaced his diseased valve while his heart was still beating, and sent him home from the hospital after a four-day stay.
Tollefson told his doctor, Stanley Chetcuti, M.D., an interventional cardiologist at the University of Michigan, of his desire to attend a few more Normandy reunions, saying, “There aren’t many of us left.” After treatment, and cleared to travel to France, he promised to send Dr. Chetcuti a postcard.
Today, that postcard is one of the most treasured mementos on display in Dr. Chetcuti’s office. “He kept his promise to me.”
See family photographs from France at the 70th anniversary of D-Day: https://www.flickr.com/photos/umhealthsystem/sets/72157649122164371/
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