When Mark Oechsner, a 66-year-old Fond du Lac native and Texas resident, reflects on his journey, he doesn’t start with the surgery. He starts with his roots – born in Waupun, growing up on farms between Mayville and Waupun, and working as a co-op student in high school before earning degrees in industrial engineering and supervisory management at Moraine Park Technical College. His life has been one of movement, growth, and service – from manufacturing to financial services, from Wisconsin to Texas and back again.
But in 2014, during a routine stress echocardiogram in Austin, Texas, Mark’s heart began telling a different story. Though he aced the test – running 16 minutes at full speed – his cardiologist noted a mitral valve murmur. “It might stay the same,” the doctor shared. “Or it might get worse.”
Mark, a lifelong athlete and frequent traveler, didn’t feel any different. So he waited.
Years passed. He continued to travel, work, and live fully. But in October 2021, a sprint through Detroit’s airport left him breathless in a way he’d never experienced. “I knew something was wrong,” he shares.
By early 2022, tests confirmed moderate to severe mitral valve regurgitation. Still, Mark hesitated. “I was in denial,” he admits. “I felt fine. I’d always been in good shape. I thought I could wait.”
But his care team at SSM Health Heart & Vascular Care in Fond du Lac at that time – including R. Eric Lilly, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon, and Kelly Rehfeldt, APNP, nurse practitioner – urged him to reconsider. “These valves, when they go, they go,” Mark says he was cautioned. Eventually, Mark scheduled surgery for July 2024.
Thomas Hinkamp, MD, a board-certified cardiothoracic surgeon, outlined the procedure with Mark. “Dr. Hinkamp examined me and said he was going to do everything he could do to repair my valve because it would give me the best outcome,” Mark recalls. “He shared that if we could repair the existing valve would be the best, but since I waited so long, he might need to use a bovine bioprosthetic or mechanical valve.”
Then, in late May 2024, his heart had other plans. After a night of severe palpitations, Mark was admitted to SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital with acute heart failure and shock from a sudden deterioration of the valve. On June 5, he underwent emergency open-heart surgery with Dr. Hinkamp. As feared, the plan to repair the valve was not possible due to extensive damage, and Dr. Hinkamp performed a complex mitral valve replacement using a 27mm bovine bioprosthetic valve.
While the surgery was a success, the recovery was grueling. Mark spent 16 days in the hospital, including time in ICU and 6 South. He credits ICU nurses, like Lisa and Sarah, for helping him take his first steps, eat his first post-op meal, and manage complications. “They were incredible,” he says. “They got me back on my feet – literally.”
Just weeks later, Mark was back in the hospital with a severe stomach issue requiring bowel surgery. “Two incisions in six weeks,” he says. “But again, the care was outstanding.”
Today, Mark is back under the care of Dr. (Derek) Colmenares, family medicine, and the SSM Health cardiology team. He still has a small leak at the base of the prosthetic valve and experiences occasional premature ventricular contractions (PVCs), but he’s free of atrial fibrillation and feeling strong.
His message to others? Don’t wait.
“I probably used up five of my nine lives,” he says with a smile. “If I’d listened sooner, I might have avoided some of the complications. But I’m grateful – grateful for the care, the people, and the second chance.”
Mark hopes to share his story more widely to help others recognize the signs, trust their health care providers, and take action before it’s too late.
Here is a link to an interview with Mark.
Mark Oechsner (center) and his wife, Lisa (right), were able to catch up with SSM Health Dale Michels Heart & Vascular Care team members during a recent visit at SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital, including Kelly Rehfeldt, APNP, Tadeo Diaz Balderrama, MD, and Thomas Hinkamp, MD.