News

Join the Future Focus Program and become a Partner in Research

We have launched our Future Focus Program and wish to invite all our donors to become Partners in Research.Please download the Future Focus document here.

Ashley’s Progress

Ashley has successfully completed The Anaconda Mountain Bike Enduro Race. The Baird Institute would like to thank both Ashley and you all for your support. More information to come...

Heart to Heart

The First Edition of the Baird Institute Newsletter - Heart to Heart. The newsletter will keep you updated with our latest fund raising activities, research progress as well as future events.

Here's a look inside "In Australia, diseases of the heart, lungs and blood vessels kill more people than any other disease. The incidence of heart, stroke and vascular conditions has increased by more than 18% over the past 10 years. Valuable research into heart and lung disease is being done but very little time, effort and money is directed towards improvements in surgical techniques. Our focus at The Baird Institute is quality patient care for those people facing cardiothoracic surgery."

Download the full newsletter here.

How Your Support Helps – Ashley’s Story

In February 2007 I went into hospital for open heart surgery. I was 34 years old. I had been married for two years, had a one year old boy and a growing architectural practice.

Life was just beginning to get really interesting when I was diagnosed with an 80% blockage to my left anterior descending artery. Due to the rather tricky position it required a bypass graft (rather than just a stent).

I have always been fit and active, and I still am. At school and university I played representative level rugby and since leaving school have been an avid cyclist. I was not your typical heart surgery candidate.

It was whilst cycling in October 2006 that I started to notice a pain in my chest which I put down to indigestion. The pain got worse over the ensuing months so I went to see my GP who, “to be on the safe side” immediately referred me to a cardiologist.

I had a number of tests and at each stage the response was the same, “you are a fit young man, what are you doing here”. The angiogram proved what everyone had feared, that there was a significant blockage in an artery going into my heart.

Within two weeks of the definite diagnosis and less than two months after my first visit to the GP I was being prepped for a surgical procedure that most of us associate only with those overweight and over 60.

The surgery was a success and I was back home after four days in hospital. As anyone who has been through an open heart procedure knows, the surgery is the easy bit for the patient. The tough bit is healing.

My son didn’t understand why I couldn’t pick him up. I had to get used to not doing anything for myself and was under strict instructions to not go near the office for what seemed like an eternity.

However, within six weeks of leaving hospital I was back on my bike, playing with my son and back at work. It sounds clichéd but coming through a procedure like this makes you re-evaluate your life, old problems and worries fade and a new and improved enjoyment of the simple things in life become the norm.

My wife and I now have a nine month old daughter to keep our son entertained, our architecture practice is thriving and we are enjoying an active and healthy life. I cannot quantify the gratitude that I feel towards the team of people, from my GP, to the Cardiovascular team that performed the surgery, to the nursing staff in the Intensive Care Unit, all of whom made it possible for me (and countless others) to have a second chance at life.

However, aside from my extreme gratitude, there are still many questions. There is much they already do know of course. Don’t smoke. Don’t be overweight. Don’t have a history of heart disease in your family! The knowledge and skill that has been developed by The Baird Institute and others in this field has directly and unbelievably benefited me and my family.

Two years later I am feeling great.

But I want to give something back to the system that looked after me so well. I want to support the area of medicine that saved my life.

I also wanted to do something that really demonstrates how successful my surgery was - and to get across the message that heart surgery is life saving and it can be necessary for anyone at any age!

So I have entered a five day mountain bike race in the desert around Alice Springs.!!!- The Anaconda MTB Enduro - Red Centre .

For better or for worse I have entered the race with the intention of finishing the race; raising the profile of The Baird Institute and their work and most importantly to raise as much money as I can for to support their work.

Oh, and ok, I might have a bit of fun in the desert doing one of my favourite things!!

But I appreciate every day that I am alive to do it.

For more information about the race go to: www.rapidascent.com.au/AnacondaMTBEnduro

Please support Ashley today! Follow this link to PayPal.

Alternatively, if you don't want to use a credit card you can EFT us your donation. Our bank details are:

A/C name: The Baird Institute Limited

BSB: 082 387

A/C #: 53 782 2979

Bank: The National Australia Bank

Money orders or cheques payable to The Baird Institute can be sent to PO Box M85 Camperdown NSW 2050 Australia.

Australia Day Honours to Professor Brian McCaughan

Professor Brian McCaughan received Australia Day honours in the Member (AM) General Division. Brian’s AM is awarded “for service to medicine in the field of cardiothoracic surgery as a clinician, researcher and educator and through contributions to the delivery of health care services”.

Based at Royal PrinceAlfredHospital, he is recognised for his expertise in the management of lung cancers and well known for his involvement in professional matters and for contributions to the improvement of health services in NSW.

Since becoming a fellow in 1982, he has held a number of positions with the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, including serving as Chair of the NSW State Committee. He has held positions in a number of key NSW health committees, including membership of the Ministerial Advisory Committee of Quality in Health Care, and Chair of the Sustainable Access Health Priority Taskforce. His international experience includes fellowships in the United States at the Mayo Clinic and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.

Dr Yishay Orr Wins Ralph Reader Prize

2006-09-22

As we get older the chance of needing heart surgery grows. If we need heart valve surgery alone the risk of dying is 0.6%. At an average retirement age of 65 years Australian men and women often need heart bypass surgery. With modern techniques and intensive care skills the risk of this major procedure is now as low as 1.2% of death combined with an excellent long term outlook compared with other procedures. However if we live long enough to require both heart valve and bypass surgery the risk increases 12 times! The reasons for this dramatic rise in risk are complex but no doubt are related to the longer time needed on the heart lung machine and the difficulty protecting the heart during this time.

The heart and lung machine can cause problems of its own including kidney failure and sometimes even death. The exact mechanism of this damage has, to date, been unclear. The work of Dr Yishay Orr, The Baird Institute and the University of NSW has taken a giant step forward into turning this pathway. Rogue white blood cells within the patients own blood stream are stimulated and released from the bone marrow in the misguided attempt to reject the heart and lung machine but unfortunately end up attacking the patients own body. The importance of Yishay's work was recently recognised in Canberra at the Cardiac Society meeting in August 2006 being awarded the Ralph Reader prize for Clinical Cardiology Research. The future of heart and lung machines and how they are used for an ever increasing complexity of heart surgery will be determined by basic research such as the work done within the group of The Baird Institute.