Expert care brings patient 800 miles to Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute
He arrived on a Wednesday, had surgery on Thursday and by Saturday, he was back at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport preparing to fly home to Buffalo, New York. This time, there was a slight difference as he made his way through security.
“I have a little card that says I have a pacemaker. Instead of going through the scanners where you have to raise up your arms, they patted me down and I went right through security,” recalled Doug.
This was a round-trip Doug never expected to make when he first experienced atrial fibrillation (AFib) back in 2023. He and his wife, Nadja, have always been passionate about aging well and maintaining vitality.
They built a life around healthy eating, walking, cycling and boating. But the electrical signals in the upper chambers of Doug’s heart kept misfiring, causing his heart to beat irregularly. He reached his breaking point after two years.
“I was looking forward to a summer of boating, but on July 2, I went into AFib,” Doug said. “I was going in and out of AFib throughout the summer, and it was just not a good situation. It kind of ruined our summer. I didn’t want that to happen again this summer.”
Doug had been through 11 procedures in Buffalo to restore his heartbeat to a healthy rhythm. They only offered temporary relief; he wanted a more permanent solution.
“My daughter is friends with Dr. Katsiyiannis’ wife. I got on the phone with him a couple times. He read my chart and he thought a good path for me would be a pacemaker,” Doug explained.
William Katsiyiannis, MD, is a cardiac electrophysiologist and president of Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute. He leads a team of clinicians at Allina Health Abbott Northwestern Hospital, which was recognized by Newsweek in 2025 as both one of America’s and the world’s best cardiac hospitals.
“Quality of life is so important. With a patient like Doug, you know he’s doing everything he can to be as healthy as possible,” said Dr. Katsiyiannis. “A pacemaker gives him a chance to live the type of life he wants to lead.”
The team at Abbott Northwestern Hospital gave Doug a travel plan, complete with the name of a hotel near the hospital campus that also offered shuttled service between the two destinations.
“The staff was so cheerful. They all seemed to like their jobs. They all seemed to like working there,” said Nadja, Doug’s wife of more than 20 years who has become a health and wellness influencer in retirement. “To be perfectly honest, we’ve never experienced such a positive team going into a hospital.”
“Dr. Katsiyiannis was thorough. He came into my room before we went into surgery and he explained every detail of what we were going to go through, why it was going to happen, the post-care — everything,” Doug said.
Doug’s procedure was designed to restore stability and predictability to his heart rhythm.
“With the pacemaker in place, he now has a reliable foundation that supports both his health today and his quality of life moving forward. This is a solution that allows patients to look ahead with confidence,” said Dr. Katsiyiannis.
Post-surgery, Doug’s only major restriction is to avoid lifting anything over 10 pounds for the next six weeks. This ensures the implanted wires needed for the pacemaker don’t dislodge.
Nadja credits the care he received at Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute, along with the couple’s long-standing commitment to healthy living, for helping him recover smoothly.
“Having a healthy base really helps,” Nadja said. “In spite of the condition he had with his heart, he had good health to fall back on.”
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