Evening star., 1952-02-09
New Life in u. S. Heightened
|By SkiIIs of American Surgery
Belgiun-Born Woman
Is Soved by Delicote
Operation ON Heart
By WoIIoce {. Clayton

To Mrs. Edwige Bergeleviez they
are the swift. sure hands Of a
surgeon, the resources Of q large
hospital and the availability of
that hospital to every one-rich
and poor alike.
Because of all these things Mrs.
|Bergeleviez's new life in America
should also be a much longer ones!
When the blond Belgian and
her husband Richard came here
two and a half years ago to work
as cook and chauffeur for Stanley
Woodward, now Ambassador toI
Canada, she didn't know she had
a serious heart condition. The
condition probably had been ag-l
lgravated by two years of 14-hour-l
-a-day slave labor in q Germanl
powder plant during the war.
Forced to Quit Job.
But within a few months. she
tstarted having trouble. Her breath
was short. She had to stop and
rest when climbing stairs. Soon
she had to quit work.
Afraid she had tuberculosis, she
went to doctor. After treating
her, he recommended she go to
the Providence Hospital OUT
Ipatient clinic to get her heart
checked.
Mrs. Bergeleviez first visited the
clinic last May. Doctors diagnosed
the heart condition and put her
on a diet. They prescribed digi-
tails, a heart stimulant.
After a complete examination,
they were convinced she had a
rheumatic heart-that scar tissue
| in the mouth of one Of the heart
valves had caused the valve to
conStrict.
Heart Chamber Swelled.
AS q result, blood was not
pumping normally. The pressure
on the valve had caused ore of
the two heart chambers to swell.
The doctors explained the Sit
uation to Mrs. Bergeleviez and
lher husband. They explained that
lup until few years ago. there
would have been little they could
do. Her life expectancy would
have been about 35 years In all
Ior 8 years from then.
But, they added, there is now
successful surgical technique
for "fracturing" or opening the
valve so blood can tlow normally.
After rwo postponements be-
cause Of ner condition. the opera
ton, which is known as q mitral
commissuroton1y, was performed
last December.
Operation Explained.
The surgeon had performed
several similar operations in the
city, but this was the first IN
Providence Hospital. He made q
wide incision across the left side
of the chest. A rib retractor was
used to make a passage to the
heart.
After the heart was exposed he
cut into the valve. Within five
minutes, using his flnger-Some
surgeons use tiny knife attached
to the finger-he had made the
]opening large enough.
Mrs. Bergeleviez feels wonderful
lnow-and highly grateful.
Sometimes at home I climb
the stairs little just as a test" ;"
she said. ''No trouble at ALL" She
and her husband live at 1853 Co
lumbia road NV.
Next week, Mrs. Bergeleviez,
who speaks five languages, is go
/ ing back to work as saleswoman
lin a store which has a large
foreign clientele.
/ Practically forgotten are those
days as a German prisoner-or
the night when she and q girl
friend escaped during a heavy
bombardment and eventually
made their way to the advancing
Allied troops.
And she no longer has the fear
of being an invalid in a strange
land.
my mother wrote me from
Brussels that I was lucky to be
in America where I could get help
so easily" she said. "She is so
right"