John Fregeau, now 64, credits a recent Globe and Mail story, featuring the University of Ottawa Heart Institute’s (UOHI) Dr. Marc Ruel, for starting a conversation with his cardiologist in Winnipeg about pursuing minimally invasive cardiac surgery at the Institute in Ottawa.
The sixth boy of eight children, John says that he, like all five of his brothers, was living with potentially life-limiting heart disease. “I had failed a stress test in the summer of 2024, and a subsequent angiogram revealed four blockages in the arteries of my heart. I was being medically managed and had never heard of minimally invasive surgery for my condition.” Born and raised in the small town of Kenora, Ontario, John had enjoyed a busy adult life as a husband, father of three boys, lawyer, and judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for over 16 years. Always active, he had spent years running, fishing, playing squash and swimming. A remote and rustic cottage also provided a seasonal rotation of physical tasks and regular outdoor projects.
John says that the Fregeau brothers began discovering their pattern of genetic heart disease around the time of one brother’s surgery at the age of 66. “Following a failed stress test and subsequent angiogram in Thunder Bay, he was sent to Toronto for an urgent quadruple bypass operation.” Over the past 18 months, four of the six boys have had bypass surgery and the fifth is waiting for surgery in Winnipeg. John says that each successive diagnosis came as a very unpleasant surprise to all of them.
“My father had died at 51 of a heart attack but none of us had symptoms and all of us were healthy. It is likely that 20 years ago, we would have passed away from sudden heart attacks too.”
“Minimally invasive cardiac surgery demands extraordinary precision. Operating on a beating heart through tiny incisions pushes our skills to the limit—but also drives innovation and growth. Every team member must be highly trained, with nurses as the true backbone of our work. Together, we strive for surgical excellence and the best possible outcomes for every patient.”
– Dr. Hadi Toeg currently performs all aspects of adult cardiac surgery with a focus in advanced heart failure surgical therapies at the UOHI.
Following his referral, John says that he received a call much sooner than he expected. “Right from the beginning I was impressed with the efficiency and responsiveness of the Institute. Dr. Ruel set up a Zoom conference in July and we scheduled a date for the procedure in August.”
Now recovered and back home, John shares that he could not have been happier with every step of his heart experience. “From the intake process to the operating room, ICU and then the hospital floor, every person I encountered was kind, professional, and easy to talk to.
The standard of care that I received from start to finish was exemplary. You could pick any superlative to describe it.”
Explaining that Dr. Ruel performed three bypass grafts, followed by a stent procedure by Dr. Chong and then an angiogram, John says that his surgery took place on Tuesday, August 26 and he was discharged on Friday the 29 .
“There was only one small puncture wound in the left side of my chest, where the camera had been placed, and a three-inch incision.”
Encouraging others, who might be considering minimally invasive heart surgery, to investigate their options, John calls his experience simply, “The obvious choice”.
Only a few weeks into September, John found himself strong enough to take two 60-minute walks a day and complete light tasks around the house. Thrilled to be back driving his boat this fall, and returning to the cottage, he looks forward to years of an active and mobile retirement.
