CityView Magazine

30 Februar y 2022 TAVR patient: 'I have so much left to do' BY KIM HAST Y PHOTOGRAPHY BY RACHAEL SANTILL AN HEALTH C ynthia Williams knew something was wrong with her husband, and not just because she is a retired nurse trained to recognize signs of health issues. "He's not used to not being able to things," she said. "at's not like him." At 80 years old, Willie Williams, in fact, is the one who is always outside doing something, whether raking the yard, mowing the grass or helping neighbors with their yardwork. And then there are those children he safely and lovingly ferries to and from school each day on Bus No. 193 with Cumberland County Schools. "He loves the kids," Cynthia Williams said. When he retired from his job as a maintenance supervisor for the Fort Bragg school system, he said he figured he'd buy "two big recliners." "But I couldn't do it," he said. "I couldn't stay home." at's why it was alarming to the couple when Williams became short of breath last fall while performing the simplest of tasks. "I'd always had a clean bill of health," Williams said. "I thought that maybe I was out of shape and needed to do more walking. But walking made it worse. I've never been depressed, but I was starting to get that melancholy feeling." Fortunately for him, he is diligent in keeping up with his health. He wasted no time making an appointment with his primary care physician, Ramesh Patel, M.D. Dr. Patel quickly referred Williams to the Valve Clinic at Cape Fear Valley, "a one-stop clinic within Cape Fear Valley Heart & Vascular Center for evaluating valve disease." At 80 years old, Willie Williams, in fact, is the one who is always outside doing something, whether raking the yard, mowing the grass or helping neighbors with their yardwork. And then there are those children he safely and lovingly ferries to and from school each day on Bus No. 193 with Cumberland County Schools.

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