This summer, Jeff and his wife, Carrie, a local pastor, received some information about CT heart screenings at Atrium Medical Center. Although neither had any heart disease symptoms, they figured for $99, the cost was worth the comfort.
“Let’s go do this,” Jena told his wife.
So they did.
Carrie scored a 1.
Jeff scored a 775.
Seven hundred, seventy-five.
“I knew that was horrible,” he said.
Dr. Ali Usmani from Middletown Cardiology Associates recommended a stress test, followed by an echocardiogram. Jena passed those tests and, as a precaution, Dr. Usmani suggested a cardiac catheterization to determine if Jena had any undetected blockage.
When Jena woke up from the procedure, his wife and Dr. John Miller were in the recovery room. Jena was informed he needed triple bypass surgery.
A nationally known comedian, Jena waited for Dr. Miller to deliver the punch line. There wasn’t one.
He was prescribed some nitro tablets and told if he had any heart discomfort over the weekend, to take the medication and immediately go to the Atrium emergency room.
“He was serious about what he saw,” said Jena, who turned 70 of Dec. 7.
Before his surgery on Nov. 22, Jena researched the success of bypass surgery and learned 95% of patients survive the procedure.
That also means 5% don’t.
“You know there’s a chance you’re not coming back,” he said.
He remembers being wheeled into surgery and looking up at the bright lights. The man whose only surgery was having his tonsils removed as a child, was about to have triple bypass surgery.
“This is really happening to me,” he thought. “It was like an out-of-body experience.”
Then he woke up in recovery. He was alive.
“One of the greatest feelings” is how he described being in the 95%. “Although I felt terrible, it was amazing to wake up again. I’m incredibly grateful for every day. It changes your perspective on life. It’s a life-changing experience.”
He then thanked the staff in the Cardiac ICU at Atrium where he stayed for five years, his wife and son, Miles, a 2017 Fenwick High School graduate, for being his caregivers at home the last three weeks. One of them has always been at his side.
Earlier this year, Jena, a former half marathon runner, wanted to lose the extra 20 to 30 pounds he was carrying around. He plays golf regularly at Wildwood Golf Club and he walks instead of rides in a cart.
He figured the weight loss may help increase his endurance and lower his score.
In the three weeks since the bypass surgery, Jena has lost 20 pounds.
“I would not recommend the triple bypass diet,” he said with a laugh. “The next time I ask God about losing weight I need to be more specific in my prayer request.”
Since the surgery, he tries to walk every morning at the Middletown Area YMCA and looks forward to returning to swimming, golfing and working as a comedian on cruise ships.
He plans to work his triple bypass surgery into his routine. Nothing makes comedians happier than new material.
“It’s a heck of a way to get 10 more minutes,” he said.
But he understands heart disease is no laughing matter. His advice: Spend the money to get your heart screened.
“It may save your life,” he said. “It’s was a small price to pay for another 15 to 20 years of life added on.”
He prefers walking the Wildwood fairways over lying in a funeral home.
“It’s better to be seen than to be viewed,” he said.
About the Author
