The Dove family spent much of last year in and out of the hospital. It all started last April, when Billy Dove, 48, suffered a mild heart attack while at work.
He was treated at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital Center in Maryland, where it was determined he needed triple bypass surgery.
Two weeks later, his brother Tom Dove, 56, began experiencing similar symptoms, which later required a quintuple bypass surgery.
Given their family history — their father had five-way bypass surgery at a relatively young age — brother Dan Dove, 53, decided he was going to get some tests done.
“I called the cardiologist and said, ‘This is happening with my two brothers. This is not going to be just a ‘how are you doing, how are you feeling’ call. I really want to get some testing and stuff done,'” Dan said.
Those tests revealed several blockages and Dan underwent triple bypass surgery in June.
Then, out of an abundance of caution, their sister Gina Cardova, 52, decided she was also going to get tested and learned she, too, had blockages requiring double bypass surgery. That was performed in August.
“All the nurses knew who Billy, Tom and Dan were, and it was kind of a running joke when the nurses would come into my room,” Gina said. “They would say, ‘Oh, you’re the Doves’ sister! They told us you were coming!”
Dr. George Clements, who treated both Dan and Tom Dove at MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital Center, said it is common to see heart disease run in families.
Clements said he had never seen a case where four siblings had open heart surgery in the course of five months: “To see four siblings in a couple of months, all sort of present, is unheard of for me.”
He urged everyone to get regular cardiac examinations over the age of 50, especially if they have a family history of heart disease.
“For all of them, this has obviously been a life-changing experience, and they all, thankfully, caught it before it hopefully caused any long-term damage,” Clements said.
Some heart attacks can present without overt symptoms like chest pain, but the most common symptoms are shortness of breath, fatigue and discomfort in the arms, neck or jaw.
Dan Dove credited the care he received in the hospital for his recovery, particularly his nurse Genevieve.
“I told her I’ve got a 14-year-old son that has a lifetime of lessons that I have to teach him. And she just continued to comfort me and tell me, you’re going to be OK,” he said.
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