LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY)– Physicians at Our Lady of Lourdes reunited with patients for the first time since saving their lives.

The two patients, Katie Eddington and Jarachin “Jerry” Guidry, had previously diagnosed heart murmurs that developed into cardiovascular issues, leading them to need lifesaving surgery.

Cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Chance DeWitt performed the surgeries on Eddington and Guidry.

“It’s extremely stressful when patients put their lives in your hand,” Dr. DeWitt said. “That’s just an unbelievable thing that occurs, quite honestly on a daily basis, and to see them thrive and do well is remarkable, very gratifying.”

Eddington, of Lafayette, said her worst fear going into the surgery was how it would affect her husband and her daughter.

Guidry had similar fears, as he has three children and one grandchild.

“Will I get to do the things I did before?” Guidry said. “I mean, will I make it? That’s what runs through your head.”

They both received a second chance at life. Doctors replaced one of Eddington’s valves with a mechanical one, causing her heart to tick like a clock.

“My daughter asked at one point, ‘What if they put an alarm clock in there?’ And I said, ‘Well they won’t do that,'” Eddington said. “And she said, ‘Well, will it ever stop?’ And I said, ‘Baby, we don’t want it to stop.'”

Eddington continued, “And so, even though, yes I hear the ticking all the time, or every day, it’s a reminder that time is precious and that we don’t get to choose. But each day is a gift.”

As for Guidry, his heart was operating at 20% before the surgery.

“I’m at 61% now, so that was a big relief for me,” Guidry said. “I’m finally out of heart failure.”

Health professionals were also relieved to reunite with those whose lives they saved.

“I mean that is by the grace of God,” Dr. DeWitt said. “There’s nothing more exciting and fulfilling.”

When asked what they would tell doctors and nurses when they reunited, Eddington and Guidry both said ‘thank you’ was not enough.

“Thank you. I mean it’s cliche, but also I mean I feel like I’m also at a loss for words for it,” Eddington said. “Because there’s not really enough words to say how much I appreciate everything they did. The time they took to be intentional to make sure the surgery I got was the one I needed….I’m just very thankful and grateful.”

“In the end, ‘thank you’ is not what you want to say, but it’s all that’ll come out,” Guidry said. “How do you express that?”

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