"I went in on Monday. Within three days I was home and four days later, I was off the pain medication. I feel like myself again!"

Sometime around his 60th birthday, Larry D. Hopp developed an irregular heartbeat. It was frightening for both Larry and his wife, Donna.

"I could feel it every time. It would sort of quiver at the top of my heart," says Larry, now 63, of South Haven.

Larry's cardiologist, John F. Schonder, MD, FACC of Advanced Cardiac Healthcare, PLC, diagnosed the condition as atrial fibrillation. Called an arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation is one of the most common types of an irregular heartbeat. An estimated 2.2 million Americans, most, like Larry, over the age of 60, are affected by atrial fibrillation. The condition can cause symptoms that greatly diminish quality of life. For Larry, a fisherman and bowler, it kept him from living his life to its fullest. "His heart was so bad, he just didn't have any energy," says Donna. "He'd get tired easily and just wasn't himself."

By itself, atrial fibrillation is not typically life threatening. But it does put patients at an increased risk of stroke because blood isn't pumping normally through the affected atria and it can clot. In many cases, stabilizing blood flow and regulating the heartbeat can be done with medication or other treatments. But sometimes, the condition is associated with mitral valve disease, which requires surgery to repair or replace the aortic valve. After monitoring and treating his condition medically, Dr. Schonder referred Larry to cardiac surgeon Zahir A. Rashid, MD.

Dr. Rashid, with Cardio Thoracic Surgery, is the Medical Director for Cardiac Surgery at Bronson Methodist Hospital. Joining Bronson in February of 2009, Dr. Rashid performs advanced surgical treatments like minimally invasive aortic and mitral valve replacement or repair using "key hole" incisions. The treatment is technically demanding and requires a high level of skill from the surgeon and the surgical team. The capability adds to Bronson's already highly regarded cardiac reputation. Bronson was named a Top 100 Heart Hospital by Thomson Reuters, 2008.

On April 2, Larry was admitted for minimally invasive aortic valve replacement surgery. Dr. Rashid made an incision of just over 1 1/2 inches and replaced Larry's ailing aortic valve with a new valve made from animal tissue. It didn't require breaking Larry's breastbone, which is typically required with open heart procedures. As a result, the recovery was significantly shorter because less muscle and tissue were affected.

"I went in on Thursday. They prepped me and put the IVs in," Larry says. "Then they said they were going to give me something to put me to sleep. That was it. That's all I remember. I went in on Monday. Within three days I was home and four days later, I was off the pain medication. I feel like myself again."

Larry retired as a press operator from an independent tool company shortly before his surgery. The freedom from work - and from the worry about his heart - means he has taken up bowling again and is enjoying his renewed health. Donna says Larry has his energy back, too. "His color has improved. He doesn't get tired as easily as he used to. He's getting back some of his stamina."