NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Jeffrey Arnett, 57, considers himself today a “walking miracle” after having two life-changing surgeries at Cleveland Clinic Florida (CCF).
Recently retired as a Maintenance Supervisor from Morton Salt after 37 years of service, lifelong athlete Arnett thanks God and the CCF team for giving him his life back.
Arnett was in his late 20s when he first felt intense pain in his pelvic joint. The sensation worsened over the next few years but remained bearable until one day.
Years later, at age 54, resigned to the need for a hip replacement, Arnett turned to CCF, the hospital that had saved his life four years earlier in what doctors called a miracle of timing following a harrowing trip with blood clots blocking oxygen and experiencing deep vein thrombosis, causing him to blackout.
In that life-and-death scenario, where any breath could have been his last, Arnett had one stroke of good luck after another, with Bahamasair flight attendants even booking his transportation upon landing after the flight was held up for 90 frightening minutes due to a storm.
When he arrived at the Weston, Florida, hospital suffering from multiple blood clots (pulmonary embolisms) that had passed through his heart and into his lungs, doctors whisked Arnett into emergency surgery.
Two larger clots (deep vein thrombosis or DVTs) were found in his pelvic artery, which would have killed him had they become free.
Arnett calls it “a miracle” the doctors caught them in time and he was still alive.
Four years later, in April 2021, Arnett was back at Cleveland Clinic Florida, this time for the hip replacement surgery he had put off until he could not take the pain any longer.
It was so intense, he could not lie down. Tying his shoelaces was impossible. Bending sent knife-like slivers through his body.
Arnett’s wife, Darcia, contacted Cleveland’s in-country representative, Shenika Nesbitt, and the two worked together to arrange his appointment with CCF’s orthopedic team, including his flight, transportation and accommodation.
The hip replacement surgery was conducted by orthopedic surgeon Dr Preetesh Patel.
“I wanted to give Mr Arnett a frank, honest assessment of his condition, which I could tell was very painful, debilitating and affecting his daily life,” said Dr. Patel.
“It was important [to] help him understand why surgery was the only viable option at that late stage.”
A filter was placed in Arnett’s stomach to prevent potential blood clots due to his history of clotting, and on April 15, 2021, the two-hour hip replacement surgical procedure was successfully completed.
Eight months later and back home on Inagua, Arnett said: “I have a new lease on life and feel like my old, active self again. I can now walk, raise my knees, squat and more with no shooting pains — like nothing ever happened.”
A four to five-inch incision that will fade in time is the only physical evidence of the surgery.
“Everything at Cleveland Clinic in Florida was good and the doctors and staff treated me very well; they made me feel so comfortable,” Arnett said.
“Had I known the process would have been so easy, I would have done it 100 times over before. My only regret is not having the surgery done sooner.”
Loading ...
