Robert’s journey: a missed opportunity
At 83, Robert could have been offered a modern, less invasive option to fix his heart valve. Instead, he was told the only publicly funded option available in New Zealand was open-heart surgery.
For Robert Hamlett, the price of saving his heart has been living with constant pain – and knowing it didn’t have to be this way.
At 83, Robert should have been offered a safe, modern, non-invasive option to fix his failing heart valve.
Instead, he was told the only publicly funded treatment available in New Zealand was open-heart surgery – a risky procedure that literally stops the heart and cracks open the chest.
“I didn’t have a choice,” he says.
“They told me it had to be done and that it was my only option.”
Robert, of Wellington, learnt he had a heart condition when he went into hospital for a hernia operation.
He was told by doctors that they would keep an eye on it, but treatment was not needed at that time.
As the years went on, his condition deteriorated, and he was told he needed to have open heart surgery.
His cardiologist mentioned there was another option available – a minimally invasive procedure called Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (TEER) – but that he would have to fund it himself at a cost of $60,000 - $80,000.
Robert underwent open-heart surgery in May 2024.
Rather than feeling stronger and healthier post-surgery, what followed was pain, fear, and months of struggling to reclaim a normal life.
Since his operation, he’s been rushed to hospital eight times – twice by ambulance.
“I’ve been cut across and down my chest, and I’ve had pains in there – really intense pains – and there is a lump there now too.”
“I get nose bleeds, I feel a bit unsteady on my feet, I often forget things and I feel overwhelmed.”
“My family think of me as an invalid now,” he says.
For Robert, the frustration is more than physical – it's financial too.
“If TEER had been done through my leg, I don’t think any of this would have happened – I wouldn’t have been rushed off in ambulances because of the pain from that surgical cut.
“But it’s more than that. Each trip costs the system money.”
“If $35,000 for a TEER machine can prevent all that, why doesn’t every hospital in New Zealand have one?”