Aspirus Heart & Vascular Institute has been seeing
patients at the new location since November. Call
715-847-2611
or toll-free
800-441-4013
to make an appointment for
the Antigo location.
they were
beyond frustrated
and Bob’s heart was almost always
out of rhythm, so they attended
the seminar looking for any shred
of hope.
The Wait Is Finally Over
At the seminar, they listened
to Aspirus heart surgeon John
Johnkoski, MD, talk about a
surgical treatment for a-fib called
minimally invasive Maze, or
mini-Maze. When one of Dr.
Johnkoski’s former patients also
spoke about having the procedure
and how it gave her a new lease
on life, the Flaas were convinced
that this was the solution that
had eluded them for years.
The Flaas were excited about
what they had learned about
mini-Maze,
but Bob wanted to
remain loyal to his physician in
Wisconsin. Four months after the
seminar at his next appointment,
he asked his physician about
mini-Maze and after hearing his
answer, Flaa knew he’d be
making an appointment with
Dr. Johnkoski.
“My other physician told me
that he didn’t perform the
mini-Maze procedure and that he
wanted to put me on a new trial
drug for another six months to see
if it worked,” Flaa says. “I’d already
been through all the medications
and they didn’t work, so that was
the last time I saw that doctor.”
Upon meeting with
Dr. Johnkoski in Wausau,
Flaa underwent some tests to
determine whether he was a
candidate for the procedure.
Unfortunately for Flaa, he was not
a candidate for the mini-Maze
because it was determined that
he also needed bypass surgery.
Instead, Flaa had to have a full
Maze, which is a more invasive
procedure, but is performed at
the same time as the bypass.
Flaa underwent bypass and
full Maze surgery in October
2012 and spent just over three
days in the hospital. His heart
went into normal rhythm
immediately after surgery and
has been that way ever since.
Following surgery, Flaa was
able to complete his cardiac
rehabilitation closer to home
at Aspirus Grand View. Within
six months of the surgery, Flaa
was completely off medications,
including Coumadin, a blood
thinner that requires frequent
blood monitoring tests.
“It’s so awesome that specialists
like this come up here to the U.P.,”
Lu says. “The procedure has made
such a huge difference because you
always wondered, ‘I hope his heart
doesn’t go out,’ and it was scary
always having that hanging over
your head, but now we don’t have
that anymore.”
• Pathways
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