It was a wonderful meeting at The Pirates House with lots of members and an engaging speaker. President Karl Bohnstedt announced that $450 had been donated to the Humane Society from the money raised through Fines, Raffle and Happy from First Quarter. Once all Rotary business items were announced, Philip Gillette introduced our speaker for the day - Dr. Michael Babcock who is an interventional cardiologist with Cardiology Associates of Savannah.
Dr. Babcock began by giving a brief overview of St. Joseph's/Candler by sharing that the Pooler campus is up and running and work is being done on a Bluffton campus. He said the heart is like a house - four rooms, plumbing, electricity, and structural. In recent years, new techniques have been formed in order to use IV's and catheters to fix heart conditions rather than having to do open heart surgery. He went into detail explaining that Aortic Stenosis can now be fixed with TAVR which results in a shorter recovery time with most patients feeling better the next day. Cumulative exercise is best for cardiovascular health and your peak heart rate should be 220 minus your age. He concluded his talk by letting everyone know about the new Cryptogenic Stroke Program and that four new cath labs will be built over the next 10 years.