Senior correspondent reflects on triple-bypass surgery


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SALT LAKE CITY — October 2014, the White Rim Trail near Moab. KSL senior correspondent John Hollenhorst noticed his brother, Rob Hollenhorst, a former marathoner, was lagging behind. When Rob admitted he had chest pains, they sprang into action.

"They got the satellite phones going, they called for an ambulance to meet him at the top of the Island in the Sky, Mesa," John Hollenhorst said. "They drove him 24 miles back and up to the mesa."

Rob's triple-bypass would be a success back home in Duluth, Minnesota. Though John had no symptoms, it got him pondering.

"My mom had triple-bypass surgery when she was 80. Another brother had a stent installed. I think all of us have high cholesterol," said John, who is semi-retired, and was inducted into the Emmy Silver Circle. He underwent a series of tests.

"I've always been pretty active in my life, terrible diet. Not as much exercise as I should have," he said from the Steiner Aquatics Center where he works out.

He had partly blocked arteries and needed triple-bypass as well. So, on Dec. 30 that same year, he went in.

"My daughter and my wife were with me, and I said good-bye to them and thanked them for being there. I went to surgery knowing it was risky," he said.

The surgery is not for the faint of heart.

"He had a sternotomy, so they had to split his chest, and then they had to wire it back together," said Dr. Tim Odell, primary care physician with the University of Utah Redstone Clinic.

Surgeons replaced three of his coronary arteries with vessels from his leg and chest. Doctors said he was literally a ticking time bomb.

"I think it was lucky, actually, because he really didn't have any symptoms when he came in for his annual exams," Odell said. "I think the thing that pushed us over was his family history. In my opinion, family history trumps everything."

The first month of recovery was brutal. "I kept telling people I felt like I got hit by a 100-ton truck," John said. "Today, maybe a 75-ton truck. That's the way you feel for a month." The second month was better, and by the third month he was feeling back to normal.

Last August, the brothers hiked the bluffs on the North Shore of Lake Superior and took in the sweet view after the danger had passed.

"And I'm really glad I did it," John said of the heart surgery.

Because John acted before he had symptoms, there was no damage to heart muscles. He's healthy and happy, back doing the things he loves.

And he's got great family support. His doctor said his wife, Swantje Johnson, particularly, was a wonderful advocate, going to all his appointments and helping him through.

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