JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 As February closes out American Heart Month, patients and doctors gathered at Ascension St. Vincent\u2019s Riverside for a heart patient reunion aimed at celebrating lives saved and treatments that restored them.<\/p>\n
At 79 years old, Kathleen vonKoschenbahr hugged the interventional cardiologist she credits with saving her life after a complex, high-risk diagnosis two years ago.<\/p>\n
She said a second opinion and a less-invasive procedure offered an alternative to the open-heart surgery doctors first recommended.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a God thing. A man of God and does not take the credit at all. God and he are working together,\u201d vonKoschenbahr said. \u201cI am so thankful that I listened to that little voice inside that said I\u2019ll go get this other opinion\u201d<\/p>\n
VonKoschenbahr said she learned she had extensive blockages and unusually high calcium buildup in her arteries. She called herself a high-risk candidate for open-heart surgery because of age and diabetes, and said she feared she might not survive a traditional operation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I got to a cardiologist only because a wound would not heal up. I am a diabetic. I found out that my numbers for a calcium deposits were 1000 times more than two years before,\u201d she explained. \u201cI was preparing to die to be really honest.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Samer Garas, an interventional cardiologist at Ascension St. Vincent\u2019s Riverside, performed a less-invasive approach that combined mechanical support and vessel preparation to make stenting possible for vonKoschenbahr.<\/p>\n
Dr. Samer Garas, an interventional cardiologist at Ascension St. Vincent\u2019s Riverside, performed a less-invasive approach that combined mechanical support and vessel preparation to make stenting possible for vonKoschenbahr. (Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is called an impala Heart Pump. It is the world smallest Heart Pump. This was used during Kathleen\u2018s heart procedure,\u201d Garas said. It helps the Heart Pump in that way that if we are doing a higher risk, stenting procedure, the heart stays well revascularized and pumping well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garas continued, \u201cWe used a balloon on her called shockwave, which is an ultrasound therapy for the blood vessels, similar to what we would use for a kidney stones for example. We soft up the arteries. That\u2019s why we can nicely put in a stent\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years after the procedure, vonKoschenbahr said she feels healthier and gets positive reports at checkups.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel healthy and every time I go to the doctor, they go you are in great shape. You are doing great. it is a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Garas said moments like the reunion make the work meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot all patients are so kind and nice as Kathleen. It is a pleasure. It is what we do this for.\u201d<\/p>\n
VonKoschenbahr, a mother, grandmother and soon-to-be great-grandmother, hugged members of the medical team and thanked them for extending her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI honor what Dr. Garis does and what the Lord does through him\u201d<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 As February closes out American Heart Month, patients and doctors gathered at Ascension St. Vincent\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[72854,26442,22651,116,118,117,12276],"class_list":{"0":"post-172978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-american-heart-month","9":"tag-ascension-st-vincents","10":"tag-heart-health","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","13":"tag-jacksonville-news","14":"tag-positively-jax"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}