Contact: Will Sansom
Phone: (210) 567-2579
E-mail: Sansom@uthscsa.edu

Printer Friendly Format

Maria Almanza de Hartlage and her husband, Jerry Hartlage, have served as missionaries in Monterrey, Mexico, since their marriage several years ago. Their ministry has borne the fruit of 30 new churches.

The past couple of years sorely tested their faith, however. Maria began to suffer with a heart valve condition possibly resulting from the rheumatic fever she had at age 10. “I was feeling really bad, and two years ago I started passing out,” she said. “I was having a lot of chest pain and shortness of breath, and could not sleep lying down. Tests revealed my heart was enlarged and that I had a leaky mitral valve.”

This past November, at 3 o’clock one morning, she woke her husband and said, “Please pray for me. I feel so strange, as if I am going to die.” Jerry recounted what happened next. “She went out. I went to neighbors to call an ambulance. She had no pulse, but later responded. On X-rays, her heart was so enlarged. Her lungs looked like a crayon had marked on them from blood the valve had leaked into them.”

Steven Bailey, M.D., professor of medicine, interim chief of cardiology and director of the Janey Briscoe Center of Excellence in Cardiovascular Research at the Health Science Center, repaired Maria’s leaky valve in January at University Hospital. Jorge Alvarez, M.D., interventional cardiology fellow, and other physicians also participated. Maria is now well enough to travel with her husband in this country before returning to Mexico next month.

In fact, she will still be traveling when the first “Dress Smart for a Healthy Heart Fashion Show” takes place from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Health Science Center auditorium. The event, featuring women who were treated by the Health Science Center division of cardiology, is sponsored by the University Health System and the division of cardiology.

Although her story turned out happily, Maria is a reminder that heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases can strike women in the prime of life. These diseases are the number one killer of women in Texas. Any donations made at the fashion show will benefit the Janey Briscoe Center’s research to find new treatments and enable women to live longer, more productive lives.

“Forty-nine years ago, my mother died of the same condition,” Jerry Hartlage said. “They couldn’t fix it. Now the technology is here and God has given men the knowledge of how to use it. We are so grateful.”

A heart-healthy reception will follow the Fashion Show. Admission is free. For information about the event, call the division of cardiology at (210) 567-4601.


# # #

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $536 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $14.3 billion biosciences and health care industry, the leading sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 22,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and allied health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, allied health, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, click on www.uthscsa.edu.