A heartfelt thanks after 21 years
More than 20 years ago, John Spilker was only 55 years old when he underwent a quintuple bypass under the experienced hands of cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Gregory Fontana, now practicing at Los Robles Health System. Spilker, a lawyer and professional pianist, was on a business trip in Colorado when he experienced chest pain while walking. “I thought it was the high altitude and that I was simply out of shape,” he says. But when he returned home a few days later, he learned through a body scan that he had cardiac stenosis. A subsequent visit to a cardiologist and an abnormal stress test confirmed the scan. “The angiogram showed that I had three completely closed arteries, a fourth closed at 75% and a fifth at 90%,” says Spilker. He was a walking time bomb.
The insurance company required him to get a second opinion, and that’s when he met Dr. Fontana. “John came to me in pretty bad shape,” says Dr. Fontana. “In fact, he wanted to put off the surgery for a couple of weeks to get things in order. I told him that wasn’t a good idea and that he should get it taken care of right away.”
On Sept. 7, 1999, John underwent quintuple bypass surgery. Today, he is active, and he continues to take a statin daily along with blood pressure medication, but in 21 years, he has not had one symptom of heart disease. “When I met with Dr. Fontana after the surgery, he gave me a 50-year verbal guarantee,” says John with a chuckle. “So far the warranty is holding up.”
John and his wife moved to Thousand Oaks about three years ago and only recently learned that Dr. Fontana was now practicing in Thousand Oaks. “I was going the pharmacy, and while in building, I noticed Dr. Fontana’s name on the directory,” says John’s wife Kaye. Kaye went into the office to pick up a business card; John emailed Dr. Fontana.
“This is why I do what I do!” says Dr. Fontana after receiving the email from John about his surgery 21 years ago. “Words can’t describe what it’s like to get messages like John’s from my patients — I received his message on Labor Day — simply confirming that the work I do is truly a labor of love.”
John is now retired but his two daughters are both practicing medicine in Northern California. One is a nurse in San Jose at Good Samaritan Hospital — a sister HCA Healthcare facility — and the other is a nurse at Stanford Health Care. He and his wife are also the proud grandparents of three. “In addition to moving to a great area, we have a great doctor right nearby,” says John. His wife Kaye adds, “If ever I have any heart issues, I know where I’m going!”