Lou-Ann Boemio

When Lou-Ann Boemio joined her husband and a business partner for dinner and drinks in downtown Inverness in December 2021 she was under a bit of stress. The trio had been planning a big venture for a while and it was crunch time. “I was about three sips into my beer when I thought I was starting to have a panic attack,” the 42-year-old teacher said. “But really I was having heart attack symptoms. All of them, both male and female.” 

Lou-Ann’s husband, a nurse, rushed into action and brought her quickly to the HCA Florida Citrus Hospital ER. From there she was whisked up to the cath lab where no blockage was found. After an echocardiogram a shocking discovery was made: there was a tumor in her heart. The myxoma – a benign cardiac growth – was nearly 6cm and growing in her left atrium. “I had a tumor the size of a tennis ball in my heart and never had a warning symptom,” she said. “Who knows how long it had been there.”

Knowing her case was extremely rare, Lou-Ann welcomed residents to join. “They were excited to see the giant tumor and I knew this would be a great learning experience for them. I can’t help it, I’m a teacher,” she said. The surgery was scheduled with Dr. Bao Hoang who performed a minimal incision surgery. “Dr. Hoang is amazing and I love that man,” she said. “He went in laterally instead of through the chest, snipped the tumor and pulled it out. He also discovered a PFO hole and patched it, then put a c-ring around my mitral valve. He took care of three or four different things and now I’m cured.”

Lou-Ann remembers everything about her stay at Citrus Hospital. From her initial ejection fraction of 20-25% to the caring nurses in CVICU and her heroes Drs. Hoang and Kim. “They gave me my life back in ways I could never imagine,” she said. “I’ve had nothing but the most amazing care and I know that once I’m fully healed I’ll have the heart of a 20-year-old.”