Omaha golf instructor benefits from Methodist’s team approach, expertise in robotic cardiothoracic surgery

When Mike Cornell walked into his annual wellness visit in December 2023, he had no reason to suspect anything was wrong with his heart.

The active 70-year-old grandfather had no difficulty breathing, no rapid heartbeat, no chest discomfort or any of the other symptoms associated with mitral valve conditions. And he certainly didn’t expect to be facing heart surgery a few months later.

“I didn’t have one symptom,” said Cornell, PGA director of golf instruction at Champions Run in Omaha. “I had no problem walking up and down steps. I didn’t feel tired. I didn’t have any of that. I didn’t feel any different than a year before, or even a day before that.”

But his Methodist primary care provider (PCP) heard a murmur when listening to Cornell’s heart, starting a journey that led to him having a cutting-edge surgery that’s regionally available only at Methodist. 

Expert team gets to work

Cornell’s PCP ordered a noninvasive echocardiogram the next week with the Methodist Physicians Clinic (MPC) cardiology team to get a better idea of how well Cornell’s heart was working. MPC cardiologist William Nester, MD, shared the results with Cornell’s PCP, noting an issue with the mitral valve – two flaps that allow blood to pass from one chamber of the heart’s left side to another. Given Cornell’s lack of symptoms, his situation wasn’t urgent, but it did need attention. He was referred to MPC cardiologist Jack Higgins, MD.

By the time Cornell met with Dr. Higgins in early March, the cardiologist had reviewed the echocardiogram and saw the same issue that Dr. Nester had.

“Having a murmur, if you feel reasonably fine, it’s hard to know what’s going on and how serious it is,” Dr. Higgins said.

So he ordered a more invasive and thorough echocardiogram that included inserting an ultrasound probe into Cornell’s esophagus while he was sedated. The 3D images it produced revealed that Cornell’s mitral valve had ruptured and was leaking blood.

“In the short term, people who are relatively asymptomatic can do generally well and manage that,” Dr. Higgins said. “But the concern is that over a long period of time, patients will develop symptoms of congestive heart failure. The heart will enlarge to the point where it becomes unfixable.”

He referred Cornell to MPC cardiothoracic surgeon HelenMari Merritt, DO, to discuss his options.

An individualized approach

Dr. Merritt and her team are experienced in addressing mitral valve issues in patients, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach. In addition to surgical options, they have nonsurgical approaches for patients who may not be good candidates for surgery. For example, the MitraClip, which is attached to the valve using a catheter, helps the valve to leak less.

Among surgical options, Methodist distinguishes itself even more as the only system in the region that offers robotic mitral valve repair. Methodist began performing robotic mitral valve repairs in November 2022, offering an alternative to more invasive sternotomies, which cut through the breastbone to access the heart. One-third of the mitral valve repair procedures that Methodist performed in 2024 were completed using robotic surgery, Dr. Merritt said.

“One thing that distinguishes us in our heart team approach is that for each patient, we look at age, comorbidity, activity level and the pathology of the mitral valve itself,” Dr. Merritt said. “What we’re hoping for is to balance the risk of an intervention with the long-term positive effect.”

What she saw in Cornell – and was soon confirmed by a cardiac catheterization that ruled out arterial blockages and other valve issues – was a good candidate for robotic surgery.

“We didn’t talk about how it happened – you don’t care how it happened – but, ‘This is what we’re going to do to take care of it,’” Cornell said. “To me, that’s kind of like teaching golf. ‘This is the problem. This is how we’ve got to fix it.’”

In late March 2023, three months after his heart murmur was caught, Cornell underwent robotic surgery at Methodist Hospital.

‘How modern medicine should work’

Robotic surgery has benefits for surgeons and patients alike. 

In a robotic procedure, a surgeon guides a Da Vinci surgical robot for more precise and less invasive surgical work. 

“The robot allows us to do some fine technical work on that mitral valve and get a good, durable repair,” Dr. Merritt said.

Meanwhile, most patients can expect less time under anesthesia, less pain, shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries.

“A real difference where the robot shines is the first two to three weeks after surgery,” Dr. Merritt said. “The patient can get back to doing things like driving right away. There's no restrictions in terms of lifting.”

After five days of recovery in Methodist Hospital’s Cardiovascular Surgery Unit, Cornell began 10 weeks of outpatient rehabilitation with the hospital’s cardiopulmonary rehabilitation team. A follow-up visit and echocardiogram with Dr. Higgins in July showed that Cornell’s valve leakage had been reduced significantly.

“Everything was pristine on that July 2023 echo,” Dr. Higgins said.

While Cornell hadn’t noticed symptoms before the surgery, the results were undeniable.

“I felt amazingly different and had a lot more energy,” he said. “You could tell it was a different energy. A little more spunk. A little more go.”

He was also thankful for the quick recovery – he was back to work in time for the start of golf season – and he was impressed by his care every step of the way. That included his bedside staff, who “were dynamite,” and the cardiopulmonary rehab team.

“They just took care of everything,” he said. “This doesn’t happen to you much in life, but everybody you talked to you liked. Everybody was filled in to what was going on. That team approach – I thought that was great.”

That teamwork, the doctors said, is why Methodist stands out in cardiovascular care and has success stories like Cornell’s.

“I feel very privileged to work within this system,” Dr. Merritt said. “Our team of experts that starts with primary care and goes all the way up to the cardiologists and into the operating room, where I do work with a team that allows us to innovate and do really complex, detailed things. I feel very lucky.”

Added Dr. Higgins: “Everyone is just a phone call away. Because we have that culture and communication, he was able to get taken care of quicker. Every single patient, you try to get this sort of outcome, and it’s really the ideal way of how modern medicine should work.”