Heart Doctor Saves Local Policeman's Life

RIVERHEAD, NY — It was a day of fun and relaxation for Southampton Town Police Sgt. James Cavanagh when he went salmon fishing with a bunch of friends — until he suddenly got the first indication that something might be seriously wrong.

"One of the fellows I went with had a heart problem. I didn't want him carrying the fish — it was around 100 lbs. of fish — up the hill. I carried the fish and I was out of breath. I thought, 'I'm getting out of shape,'" he said.

Next, during his normal running routine, every time he'd run about a mile and half, Cavanagh, 58, started feeling pressure in his chest. "I kind of ignored it," he said.

He went to the gym, where he went on the StairMaster and climbed 52 stories. "Nothing happened, so I thought my heart must be fine. I thought the pressure might be indigestion, or something else," he said.

It was when Cavanagh, a Southampton resident, went to his regular physician for a flu shot that the truth became frighteningly clear. "I told him about the pressure in my chest when I was running and he said, 'Are you kidding me? Are you nuts? Why were you running? You're going to the cardiologist right now."

Cavanagh's doctor made an appointment for the cardiologist and sent him to Peconic Bay Medical Center, where he met Stanley Katz, MD, chief of cardiology and director of PBMC's cardiac catheterization lab.

"I got on the table and 15 second later, Dr. Katz said, 'Go get his wife,'" Cavanagh said. "I said, 'That doesn't sound very good.' Next thing I know, I was on the ambulance to Southside Hospital. I had a triple bypass. I had a 90% blockage — and didn't know it."

Cavanagh shared the story of how Dr. Katz saved his life at Peconic Bay Medical Center, which participated in the National Go Red Day on Friday.

The cardiac catheterization lab at Peconic Bay Medical Center opened on Oct. 16, 2017. Since then, interventional cardiologists at PBMC have performed more than 165 catheterizations and have saved the lives of dozens of individuals on the East End, officials said.

Friday's event kicked off Heart Health Month at Peconic Bay Medical Center, where a free community event surrounding cardiac wellness will also be held at Martha Clara Vineyard on Thursday, Feb. 8.

Andrew J. Mitchell, President & CEO of Peconic Bay Medical Center and Susan Somerville, vice president of clinical transformations at PBMC, also spoke at Friday's event.

After his harrowing ordeal, Cavanagh urges individuals to go for heart exams. When he first felt the pressure, he said he didn't address the issue and the results could have been catastrophic. "I was in denial, denial, denial," he said.

But because he was young, in good health, has never been overweight, and has no history of heart disease in his family, Cavanagh said he was in shock at the news.

"I didn't believe him," he said. "I thought, 'You've got to be kidding me.' Even when they were wheeling me into the operating room, I was in a complete panic, thinking, 'This is not happening.'"

Cavanagh, who has a daughter in law school, said from the time of his surgery on Nov. 16, his outlook on life has changed completely.

He's set to go back to work Saturday for the first time since his surgery.

After the surgery, Cavanagh had some "brutal moments" because all of his ribs were broken during the procedure, so that the surgeon could reach his heart; he also had a vein pulled from his leg and that phantom pain was troublesome for some time.

But his recovery has been steady, and as soon as he was able, he began going to the gym again.

Cavanagh's got words of advice after his terrifying ordeal: "Even if you don't have symptoms, you should get your heart checked, because you never know. If you saw me or knew me, you'd never have known I had a heart problem. There are tons of people walking around with ticking time bombs in their chests who don't know it."

Filled with gratitude for his physician, Cavanagh said he's changed his eating habits and vowed to continue going to the gym diligently. "You know people work out, they buy a gym membership and go for two months, then they get distracted and don't go anymore? I won't be doing that anymore," he said.

As a police officer, Cavanagh said, there are daily fears, such as being hit by a car or shot. But heart disease was something he'd never considered. "You have to be careful. You just never know. You have to think of your own health."

Patch photo courtesy Peconic Bay Medical Center.