{"id":12227,"date":"2023-08-13T10:18:34","date_gmt":"2023-08-13T10:18:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ottawaheart.s2.whc.webmarketersdev.ca\/story\/jean-michel\/"},"modified":"2023-09-15T21:08:40","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T21:08:40","slug":"jean-michel","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/foundation.ottawaheart.ca\/fr\/story\/jean-michel\/","title":{"rendered":"JEAN MICHEL"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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‘Watching my kids grow up:’ A dad and husband\u2019s gift of life<\/h3>
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Jean Michel recalls a walk up the stairs at a friend\u2019s cottage.\u00a0<\/p>

It\u2019s a climb he\u2019d done countless times.\u00a0But on this day, it felt tougher than ever.<\/p>

\u201cI\u00a0realized\u00a0halfway\u00a0through that I was huffing and puffing and trying to catch my breath, finding it very hard to go up the stairs,\u201d says the Orleans resident.<\/p>

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Jean\u2019s wife, Deneen Perrin, was walking up the stairs alongside her husband\u00a0on that day.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Observing her husband\u2019s concern, she tried to reassure him that he\u00a0shouldn\u2019t worry.<\/p>

\u201cI\u00a0said, \u2018You\u2019re just out of shape.\u00a0It\u2019s all good.\u00a0It\u2019s a hundred stairs. I\u2019m out of breath, too,\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cHe looked at me and said \u2018no, it\u2019s more than that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>

\u201cIt was definitely out of the ordinary for me,\u201d said Jean.<\/p>

Jean\u2019s doctor examined\u00a0him\u00a0and suggested he go to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute for\u00a0a cardiac stress\u00a0test.<\/p>

\u201cAs they put me on the treadmill, very quickly,\u00a0I was labouring,\u201d he said.<\/p>

\u201cThat was the first failure for my heart health.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cMy first reaction was \u2018you\u2019re 51 years old.\u00a0I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll fix it with a stent. They\u2019ll be able to fix this,\u201d said Perrin.<\/p>

But it wouldn\u2019t be a simple fix.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Jean had four badly blocked arteries. He would require a quadruple bypass cardiac surgery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

The gravity of his condition began to sink in.<\/p>

\u201cThat\u2019s when you worry about your family,\u201d he said,\u00a0his voice breaking and tears filling his eyes.<\/p>

Jean, now admitted to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, would spend the weekend\u00a0before his surgery\u00a0preparing for the worst.<\/p>

\u201cI\u00a0asked my wife to bring me my laptop and I started making sure that all of my affairs were in order,\u201d he said.<\/p>

\u201cAt this point, you\u2019re looking at potentially not being around anymore.\u201d<\/p>

When Deneen recounts that weekend, the trauma of Jean\u2019s reality returns.\u00a0<\/p>

The pain of potentially losing Jean, still raw.<\/p>

\u201cWhen Jean handed me a USB stick, he said all of the passwords are on the USB stick,\u00a0so if you need them, you have them,\u201d she said, her eyes\u00a0brimming with tears.<\/p>

\u201cI said, \u2018I don\u2019t like doing paperwork, so everything is going to be fine,\u2019\u201d she said, laughing.<\/p>

Jean Michel needed it to be fine. \u00a0The surgery wasn\u2019t just for him, but for the family he cherished.<\/p>

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s what I live for,\u201d he said, nodding.<\/p>

In her heart, Deneen believed\u00a0the surgery and subsequent recovery\u00a0would go well.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cI\u00a0did know he was in the best place. \u00a0If it\u00a0(the surgery) was going to happen anywhere, this was where it needed to happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>

And when\u00a0the surgery was completed,\u00a0Jean\u00a0was granted\u00a0his second chance.\u00a0<\/p>

The operation\u00a0was\u00a0a success; the husband and father\u00a0gifted a future.<\/p>

\u201cMy surgeon was Dr. Marc Ruel and his team. \u00a0They were amazing. \u00a0I was lucky. \u00a0Everything went according to plan,\u201d\u00a0Jean said.<\/p>

And going forward, Jean won\u2019t be alone in his journey to lasting heart health.<\/p>

\u201cMy son, who is eighteen, started his life with heart disease. \u00a0So, at birth, he required open-heart surgery,\u201d he said.<\/p>

For years, Alex Michel was in the care of CHEO. \u00a0Now, as an adult, he will be cared for at the UOHI.<\/p>

\u201cAs much as I love CHEO, I\u2019ve grown out of CHEO and now I\u2019m going to the Heart Institute. I\u2019m excited about the move,\u201d said Alex.<\/p>

\u201cNow, we\u2019re both going to be clients of the Heart Institute,\u201d said Jean.<\/p>

\u201cTwo members of one family. Two generations,\u201d he smiled.<\/p>

And the younger generation vows to help keep his\u00a0dad\u00a0alive and well.<\/p>

\u201cHe\u00a0said he\u2019d go mountain biking with me. \u00a0I\u2019m calling on him to go mountain biking with me,\u201d said a smiling Alex.<\/p>

Jean Michel is up for the challenge.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

He\u2019s grateful to unwrap all of life\u2019s gifts to come; excited, in particular,\u00a0by\u00a0one.<\/p>

\u201cWatching my kids grow up,\u201d he said, smiling through his tears.<\/p>

Priceless.<\/p>

\u201cYes, it is.\u201d<\/p>

Deneen and\u00a0Jean\u2019s\u00a0family agree.<\/p>

\u201cI\u00a0can\u2019t imagine life without Jean,\u201d she said, tears continuing to fall.<\/p>

\u201cSo, we are very grateful, and we\u2019ll do twenty million interviews to let people know that this place (the UOHI) is the best place on earth.\u201d<\/p>

For more stories about the Ottawa Heart Institute, you can visit\u00a0februaryisheartmonth.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jean, un patient reconnaissant de l\u2019Institut de cardiologie, raconte son difficile retour \u00e0 la sant\u00e9 cardiaque… qui a commenc\u00e9 au bas d\u2019un long escalier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":9067,"template":"","story_cate":[30,31],"class_list":["post-12227","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","story_cate-home_stories","story_cate-learn_stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJEAN MICHEL - uOttawa - Heart Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/foundation.ottawaheart.ca\/story\/jean-michel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"JEAN MICHEL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jean, un patient reconnaissant de l\u2019Institut de cardiologie, raconte son difficile retour \u00e0 la sant\u00e9 cardiaque... qui a commenc\u00e9 au bas d\u2019un long escalier.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/foundation.ottawaheart.ca\/story\/jean-michel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"uOttawa - 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