-Okay, your chords are
E minor nine and F major nine.
(slow jazzy music)
- Sounds good.
I got something for that.
- You do?
Let's hear it.
(slow jazzy trumpet music)
- [Rik Voiceover] Your whole body plays trumpet.
I must be able to blow loud and soft,
hard and high,
but always with expression.
- [Linda] One, two, three.
- [Rik Voiceover] Turning that
into inspiring music comes right from my heart and soul.
- When I first met Mr. Albani,
he was sent to me with a diagnosis of an aneurysm
of the ascending aorta and a leaking prosthetic
aortic valve, a porcine valve that he had had
put in nearly two decades ago.
In patients who have valve problems,
whether it's their native valve
or a prosthetic valve after surgery,
you know it's gonna work for a period of time
and then at some point it may start to malfunction.
Sure enough, 17 years later he develops
not only a prosthetic valve problem that we knew was coming,
but he also developed an aortic aneurysm problem
that, we knew that was coming too.
- When I went for that appointment
with Doctor Girardi, I wanted to show him
who I am and what I can do.
So I brought my trumpet.
I snuck it into the office and (chuckles)
I had it all set.
- He says before I tell you anything
I gotta show you what I really wanna be able to do.
(triumphant trumpet music)
- The response that he gave to me
was that confidence and compassion,
and I took it into surgery with me.
- The surgery was scheduled for 7:30 in the morning.
I got to the hospital at 6:30 so I could just
spend time with Rik.
I didn't actually know if I was ever going to see him again.
As much as I've helped Rik,
I know that everything was out of my hands then.
It was all in Dr. Girardi's hands.
- We had to remove the aneurysm
and replace an enlarged aorta
with an artificial aorta made of Dacron,
and then the valve that was placed 17 years ago,
we removed that,
and we put a new modern prosthetic valve in place.
We can carry out an operation
that across the United States has a risk
of over 4.5%, and our risk here
at NewYork-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell
is less than 0.2% for this specific operation.
We have been looking at using modern imaging,
collaborating with investigators like Dr. Weinsaft
to understand the physics and the engineering
in the cardiovascular system.
(upbeat music)
- Our cardiac MRI lab is at the forefront
of translational aortic research.
Using fantastic new imaging approaches
which allow us to assess
and identify subtle changes in the aorta.
We can look not only at shape and size,
but we can look at tissue properties and flow.
We can look at fibrosis in the aortic wall,
which may occur and may be a driver in increase in size.
The key challenge is gonna be leveraging
that information to develop new surgical approaches
in which graft materials or graft extent
is tailored to an individual patient's aortic physiology.
Developing patient-specific medicine ultimately
so as to improve outcomes for patients such as Mr. Albani.
- It's been two months since my surgery.
It feels great to get back to my normal routine.
I feel very positive.
- You know, we didn't know if he had played his last note,
but now he's playing, and we have the power and the glory
and the sound of the trumpet,
and we're making music together again,
and it's a beautiful thing.
- Here's a patient who walks in the door
what, 33 years ago, and starts with one problem
and then as he gets older and as things change
as they often do, finds out he needs help in other areas,
and the beauty of this place is
that he knows he's gonna get the full spectrum
of not only what he needs now,
but have somebody working on what he might need
in the future.
(triumphant piano and trumpet music)
- If you wanna go fast, go alone.
If you wanna go far, go together.
That is my relationship with everyone
at NewYork-Presbyterian / Weill Cornell Medical Center.
- I wish my husband had never gotten sick,
but we met the most remarkable people.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for helping Rik
to live a life, not a disease,
and for helping Rik keep the music alive.
(grand jazz music)
(people clapping)