Georgetown man beats odds after diagnosis decades ago

GEORGETOWN, Texas - February is American Heart Month, a time to raise awareness about heart disease. 

It is the number-one killer of both men and women in the U.S.

"I ended up having three days lying on my couch, because I couldn’t move. Finally, I got a little better and went to my doctor, who immediately sent me to a cardiologist, and immediately put me in a hospital," said Larry Gambone, a heart disease patient.

That was more than 30 years ago. At the age of 44, Larry Gambone had a massive heart attack, and ended up having quintuple bypass surgery to fix five blocked arteries.

"I was a runner and a biker. I was doing at least three to five miles a day running. Not every day, but on some days, 20-25 miles biking, after running," Gambone said.

But, Gambone, who is 75 years old now, learned he couldn't run from genetics. He has a family history of heart disease, and his own father died from a heart attack at the age of 35.

"I was in such good aerobic health that my heart survived a heart attack that my doctor, the cardiologist, said should have killed me, but didn’t," Gambone said.

From his initial heart attack in 1993, Gambone had a second one in 2004, while playing soccer. And, while on vacation in Hawaii in 2018, he suffered a cardiac arrest while swimming offshore. He was saved by lifeguards who performed CPR and EMTs who used an automated external defibrillator or AED to restore his heartbeat. 

"The most important thing that could save a life is defibrillating the heart as quickly as possible. Which is why we have AEDs. We have AED’s everywhere, we have them in football stadiums, we have them in any public building," said Dr. Vijay Divakaran, a cardiologist at Baylor Scott and White Health.

Dr. Divakaran is Gambone's cardiologist at Baylor Scott and White Health. Before Gambone returned to Central Texas from Hawaii, he had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted to correct an arrythmia, or abnormal heart rhythm. 

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Over the years, he's also had nine stents inserted, most of them placed by Dr. Divakaran.

"I said to Dr. Divakaran one time, he said to me, ‘you have a weak, damaged heart.’ And, I said, ‘yeah, but I do better with my weak, damaged heart than most people do with their full hearts.’ And, he liked that. He said, ‘I like that you said that,’" Gambone said.

These days, Gambone takes medication, watches his diet, and gets his steps in by walking his dog, and logging four to six miles a day. 

His doctor also points out the importance of preventative care, yearly doctor's appointments that screen for things including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

"All of these are risk factors for heart disease. If you don’t diagnose and treat them early on, it increases their chances of developing a heart attack in the future," Dr. Divakaran said.

And, no matter what happens, Gambone says to look on the bright side.

"Worry is interest you pay on the problem. You can’t worry about it, you have got to be concerned…and, I’m going to stress that, don’t be stupid, but, at the same time, know that you’re going to be okay, because that positive thinking really does help a lot," Gambone said.

Since Gambone's cardiac arrest in 2018, he says he hasn't had any major incidents of any kind. 

He said he hasn't been in a hospital since then, and he's happy with that.