From A-Fib Patient to Cardio Employee
A college student with heart disease changes his career path after arrhythmia scare.
Theodore Rogers was on track to become a registered nurse in 2017. While a student at Florida State College at Jacksonville, everything was falling into place for Rogers until he started to notice he wasn’t feeling like his usual self. After battling fatigue and sleeping more than usual, Rogers sought medical attention.
A Scary Diagnosis
After receiving a heart disease diagnosis, Rogers’ health declined quickly over a few days. Rogers decided to go the emergency room, where he recalls being admitted. But he woke up four days later in a hospital bed, with medical staff calling his name. He had suffered a stroke.
“The surgeons cleared the blockage and prescribed Entresto, which [at the time] was new to the market, so my heart could pump blood easier,” Rogers said. “I lost a lot of feeling on my left side and my heart was racing.”
What Rogers experienced was atrial fibrillation. A-fib is a type of arrhythmia, or abnormal heartbeat, caused by fast and irregular beats from the upper heart chambers due to faulty electrical signals. A-fib affects more than 30 million Americans and is one of the leading causes of heart failure.
Changing Paths
During the next three months, Rogers was in and out of hospitals to treat his A-fib. Because of the condition, he had to put school on hold while he recovered. During this time, he started to consider a career in cardiac care instead of becoming a nurse. Once he resumed his education, he officially made the decision to become a cardiac sonographer.
Cardiac sonographers, or echocardiographers, are health care professionals trained to use 2D and 3D imaging technology to help identify heart problems. As Rogers’ education evolved, so did his realization that his A-fib was not going to correct itself. He needed help, so his primary care doctor at UF Health Jacksonville referred him to specialists at the UF Health Cardiovascular Center.
“I met with several cardiac specialists on the team, and they really put me at ease,” Rogers said. “They deal with difficult conditions every day, but they tailored my treatment to my specific needs. With their experience and my continuing education, we all agreed that an ablation was the best path forward. That’s when I met Dr. Catanzaro.”
John Catanzaro, MD, is the associate medical director of the electrophysiology program at UF Health Jacksonville. He specializes in arrhythmia and treats A-fib using multiple procedure options.
“Mr. Rogers had been treated several times using cardioversions, which involves shocking the heart back into rhythm,” Catanzaro said. “It’s a good procedure, but each time, Mr. Rogers’ heart would go from normal to out of rhythm. An ablation was his best option.”
With a cardiac ablation, specific heart tissues are cauterized to interrupt the path of the faulty signals and restore a regular heartbeat. Although most ablations use traditional radiofrequency energy, or heat, to scar the tissue, Catanzaro specializes in cryoablations, where the tissue is frozen to create a scar.
“Using traditional radiofrequency energy has been around for a long time,” Catanzaro said. “But it requires us to make many touch points on the heart that must be mapped together. In addition, the heart is beating during the procedure, so pinpoint accuracy can be a challenge.”
By using cryoablation, Catanzaro inserts a balloon into the chamber, inflates it to cover a large area and blasts the tissue one time with subzero temperatures. This method, Catanzaro explained, is faster and covers more surface area than the heat method, allowing the scarring to be more consistent.
A New Beginning
The results of the cryoablation were a success. Rogers’ heartbeat returned to normal and stayed in rhythm. He was able to resume his education, graduating in 2021 with a degree as a certified cardiac sonographer. After graduation, Rogers moved out of state to start his new career, but soon moved back to Jacksonville.
“I was excited about the future but needed to find the right place to land,” Rogers said. “Dr. Catanzaro was excited to hear about my graduation and wanted me to consider working at UF Health Jacksonville. I’m glad I did. It’s amazing how things have turned out.”
Rogers joined UF Health Jacksonville in the spring of 2022. As a cardiac sonographer, he is part of a team of dedicated, caring professionals who are renowned for treating patients with the most serious heart diseases.
As a former patient, he is well aware of how frightening and uncertain life with heart issues can feel, and he uses that firsthand knowledge to relate to and educate his patients.
“With everything I have been through, combined with my education, I feel UF Health Jacksonville is the best place for patients with cardiac issues,” Rogers said. “Dr. Catanzaro and his team took care of me and I’m so happy to be able work here and do the same for others.”
Visit UFHealthJax.org/cardio to learn about the cardiology team and make an appointment.