Ann Arbor, MI — February 14, 2012 — A dental student who urged a patient to see a physician for high blood pressure before having a routine dental cleaning in a School of Dentistry clinic has given the patient a new lease on life.

“No question about it, dental student Steve Nichols, saved my life,” patient, Glen Toadvine declared. His wife, Sandy, agreed. “Glen’s supposed to be dead,” she said. “But coming home on Christmas Day, three days after having quadruple bypass surgery, was the best Christmas present ever.”

For more than two years, Toadvine has been traveling from the Jackson area to the School of Dentistry for care. He met Nichols for the first time last October and returned a month later, November 22, to the 3-Blue Clinic for what both Nichols and Toadvine thought would be a routine visit. It was anything but.

“Before doing any work on Glen, I took his blood pressure,” Nichols said. But the reading, 196/102, was high, so I told him I would do a re-take in 15 minutes. His numbers were high the second time, 202/100.” A third check, about 20 minutes later, revealed Toadvine’s blood pressure was 206/104, slightly higher than the first two readings.

Given that important information, Nichols knew he should not proceed with the teeth cleaning and expressed his concerns to Dr. Alexandra Jaquery, an adjunct clinical faculty member. “She listened to my concerns and we discussed the options,” Nichols said.

“Contact Your Physician”

Nichols wanted to check Toadvine’s blood pressure one more time. “His numbers were the same the fourth time, 206/104, so I told him, ‘You have more important issues you first need to address before I clean your teeth. You should contact your physician when you get home’.”

Toadvine said he was impressed with Nichols’ compassionate, yet business-like demeanor. “Steve apologized profusely for not being able to do the work that day, but said I had some pressing medical matters that needed attention. I took his suggestion to heart and made an appointment with my physician in Adrian.”

Sandy, his wife, thought the physician visit was overdue. “I suspected something was wrong for some time,” she said. “Glen wasn’t the same the entire summer. He wasn’t doing the outdoor work he enjoyed doing, and he seemed to tire rather easily.” A business broker who travels extensively across Michigan, Glen enjoyed working outdoors frequently to exercise and relieve stress.

Stress Test, Catheterization, and More

The December 7 examination by the family physician led to an appointment with a cardiologist who scheduled a stress test for Toadvine. He failed the test the following week. The cardiologist told Toadvine he would have to undergo heart catheterization to clear his blocked arteries. But when Toadvine checked in at a Toledo hospital on December 21, he was told the blockage couldn’t be cleared.

Toadvine had only one option left: heart bypass surgery.

“Taking the stress test didn’t bother me. The catheterization didn’t bother me either because I knew something was wrong,” Toadvine said. “But when I learned I was going to be cracked open to undergo triple-bypass surgery, well, I wasn’t the happiest guy around.”

Time was not on Toadvine’s side.

His father died when he was 47. His father’s father (grandfather) died at age 54. “Bad genes run in my family,” he said. “I’m 56 and was running about two miles every other day until three years ago to try and stay healthy and manage stress.”

Toadvine said he hoped the bypass surgery could have been performed at U-M Hospital. But since his physician and cardiologist are in the same network, he didn’t have the luxury of more time to go through getting more referrals and scheduling additional appointments.

A Surprise During Surgery

On December 22, exactly one month after his scheduled appointment at the School of Dentistry, Toadvine had open heart surgery in Toledo. It was supposed to be a triple bypass operation. Instead, it was quadruple bypass surgery.

Three days later, Christmas Day, Toadvine came home.

“My physician told me that without exercising and having a strong heart, I wouldn’t have made it,” Toadvine said. “I know that I have to make some much-needed changes to my lifestyle.” One of those is giving up smoking cigars. The other is changing his eating habits.

“What happened made me realize that I couldn’t continue to keep putting fatty substances into my body and expect to live a long life,” he said. “I have been blessed to have had a fortunate recovery, a wonderful wife, and am thankful Steve made the decision he did and encouraged me to see my physician.”

As he talked about his decision in the School’s dental clinic, Nichols said, “I don’t feel like a hero. But if I had not taken Glen’s blood pressure and cleaned his teeth as I was scheduled to, he probably would not have seen his physician and the outcome may have been totally different.”

Nichols said he hopes to return to Mesa, Arizona to practice general dentistry when he graduates next year. However, his initial career path was not dentistry. He was a loan officer in Arizona and was working on a business degree at Arizona State University but changed his plans after two years of study. “A friend who was in pre-dentistry was telling me about how much fun he was having helping others, so I thought I’d give the pre-dent program a try. I’m glad I did.”

Glen Toadvine is glad too. He returned to the School of Dentistry to get his teeth cleaned on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.