Lee Goorian
Len Goorian is a Cincinnati broadcasting pioneer. He was a producer and host of several memorable local television programs in the 1950s and 1960s: The Paul Dixon Show, The Len Goorian Show, Lilias, and Conversations with Irma, to name a few. Today, at age 89, Len is still active in the local Cincinnati community and enjoys living in Goshen, OH with his wife of 58 years, Myrrl Goorian. Last Christmas Len started to experience what he thought were the typical stomach discomforts he has on occasion. However, the addition of back and arm pain gave concern that he was experiencing a heart attack. “I love the holidays”, Goorian said, “I love the sounds, the smells…everything about it. I was concerned that this might have been my last time to experience it.” Len and his family were also concerned that he would not be able to receive the best care over the holidays, but they did not want to delay treatment. He was admitted to Bethesda North and was immediately at ease when he met with Ohio Heart & Vascular physicians, Drs. John Szawaluk and Monica Hunter. “I did not want to be just a number at the hospital. I immediately felt that these doctors looked at me as a person with a name. They both looked me in the eyes when we spoke and got to know me as more than just a patient”, Goorian said. Dr. Hunter performed an angiogram right away to see if Len’s coronary arteries were blocked. An angiogram is an x-ray picture of the arteries and requires that a catheter with a balloon at the end is put into a large blood vessel in the groin or arm. The catheter is then threaded to the coronary arteries. A small amount of dye is injected into the coronary arteries and an x-ray picture is taken. This let her know which arteries were blocked and how severe the blockages were. It was evident that Len did have significant blockage and had suffered a heart attack. With this information, Dr. Hunter was able to proceed with the angioplasty by inflating the balloon in the blockage and pushing the plaque outward against the artery wall. This opened the artery more and improved blood flow. A small mesh tube called a stent was placed in the newly widened part of the artery. The stent holds up the artery and lowers the risk of the artery renarrowing. The angioplasty was a success and Len has felt great ever since the procedure.Len attributes the success of his recovery to the personal care he received from the Ohio Heart physicians, “The excellent skills of these doctors helped my physically, but it was their compassion that helped me spiritually and mentally.” Len spent the majority of his career in Cincinnati, despite industry efforts to lure him to New York City. He has always believed that Cincinnati has everything he needs. He is happy to add top level cardiology care to that list.