Fighter in the world of boxing
has to PHight a different battle before he can return to the ring.
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Elvis Medrano was quickly moving up the ranks in the boxing world, before being diagnosed with Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH). Before being diagnosed, Elvis was ranked in the top 10 in the country for his class in boxing. Elvis also competed in and won the Golden Gloves Championships in the lightweight group.
He was recently featured on Inside Edition, the Inova Patient Stories and even Bayer featured Elvis on their Twitter Page. The Pulmonary Hypertension Association also named Elvis the newest Patient Ambassador! At the Pulmonary Hypertension Association’s International Conference and Scientific Seasons, Elvis was the Keynote Speaker, took pictures with many other PH patients who attended the conference, and more.
Then, one day, as he was training while in college, he fell on his arm and neck and suffered injuries. At that point, he started developing blood clots. Some of those clots traveled to his lungs. At this point, Elvis started having a very difficult time while training for his fights. Symptoms such as Shortness of Breath, and more.
Elvis shared a story with me about how hurt and sorry he was about not being able to box or train. It was July 14, 2012, a date, he will never be able to forget. It was on that date that Elvis had to stop working out and training altogether. (I think as Pulmonary Hypertension patients, we all have that date we can’t forget. For me, it was September 3, 1998. The date I was given my official diagnosis, as well as October 10, 1998, the day I was put on Flolan, during my very first right heart catheterization).
Elvis was diagnosed a year after he was injured. He had to see nearly 45 doctors, because, of course, none believed or knew what was going on. Once he found the right doctor, they found the clots in his lungs right away, and he was given his diagnosis of CTEPH.
Elvis went into surgery to have the clots removed, a procedure called pulmonary thromboendarterectomy. PTE is a surgical procedure that removes chronic blood clots from the arteries in the lung. It is a highly specialized surgery that was developed at the University of California, San Diego and is now performed in select hospitals in the United States and other parts of the world, according to the PHA. The PHA website states “Surgeons then make an incision in the center of the patient’s chest and the breastbone, the sternum, is divided so the surgeons can access the heart and lungs. The patient is placed on a heart-lung machine (cardiopulmonary bypass), a machine that will function as the patient’s heart and lungs during the surgery. For a period of time during the surgery, the cardiopulmonary bypass machine must be turned off so that the surgeons have an optimal view to remove the blood clots. To avoid organ damage to the patient when the heart-lung machine is paused and no blood is flowing through the patient’s body, patients are cooled down to 65 degrees Fahrenheit for this surgery. This is accomplished by cooling the blood as it passes through the bypass machine. Once the patient has been cooled appropriately, the surgeons carefully dissect the clots out of the pulmonary arteries.” Elvis actually had the procedure done twice, and is now blood clot and Pulmonary Hypertension free!
As the PHA Patient Ambassador, Elvis says he “…I take really good care of myself, I try to use my social media to help encourage others who are afflicted by Pulmonary Hypertension, I work very closely with the PHA and help them promote the PHA…”
Elvis Medrano considers himself very lucky to have survived his ordeal with Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension. He has learned many things from his time suffering from symptoms due to Pulmonary Hypertension and the blood clots that developed. He now believes he has the duty to encourage others who are going through the same. He wants to Knock Out Pulmonary Hypertension, the same way he has knocked out his opponents in the past, and plans on doing so in the very near future! He knows he can and will succeed, as he very soon returns the boxing ring, once he is completely healed from his final PTE surgery!
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| Elvis after the pulmonary thromboendarterectomy |
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| Elvis before his ordeal with the life-threatening, progressive, incurable Pulmonary Hypertension |
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Elvis's Actual Blood Clots after they were removed. |
CTEPH is the only form of Pulmonary Hypertension that is Potentially able to be cured!
Links found in this story
Inside Edition https://www.insideedition.com/professional-boxer-fighting-get-back-top-after-hes-diagnosed-lung-disease-42138
Bayer's Tweet on Elvis Medrano https://twitter.com/bayerus/status/1014131676551794688
Innova Patient Transplant Stories https://www.inovanewsroom.org/ifh/2018/04/dc-golden-glove-champ-elvis-medrano-faces-battle-with-deadly-lung-disease-diagnosis/
Articles on Elvis Medrano on Pulmonary Hypertension Association
https://phassociation.org/washington-d-c-golden-glove-lightweight-champion-elvis-medrano-faces-biggest-battle-deadly-lung-disease-diagnosis/
https://phassociation.org/2018-pha-celebrity-champion-elvis-medrano-to-speak-at-phas-2018-conference/
https://www.facebook.com/PulmonaryHypertensionAssociation/photos/a.10150172330860265/10159916835630265/?type=1&theater
Boxing.com http://www.boxing.com/former_amateur_standout_defeated_debilitating_disease_now_returning_as_pro.html
Charlie's Blog, where Elvis is mentioned https://charlies.blog/what-is-pulmonary-hypertension/
PHA Canada Ambassador Report http://www.phacanada.ca/en/news-and-events/newsfeed/phinding-your-hope-a-four-day-breakdown-of-phas-2018-international-conference/
Pulmonary Hypertension Association's page on CTEPH and the PTE procedure https://phassociation.org/cteph/pte-surgery/
