Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Mayor returns after heart surgery

Thorson to lead Sun Valley for several more weeks

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By PAT MURPHY
Express Staff Writer

Jon Thorson

Sun Valley Mayor Jon Thorson is back at work this week after undergoing nine hours of heart surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Thorson, a retired ophthalmologist, said with a chuckle that "had I known what they were going to do, I might not have gone."

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He underwent a unique procedure—radio ablation—that he said had been planned for several months to end disruptive electrical activity in his heart. Some 10 years ago, Thorson had a pacemaker inserted in his heart.

Thorson explained that surgeons at the famed Rochester, Minn., clinic inserted seven catheters through his groin to his heart to detect the source of the rogue electrical activity. Once it was found, a catheter with an electrode on the tip vaporized the errant heart activity.

The mayor is in the last months of his term, having been defeated in the Nov. 6 city election by retired Boeing executive Wayne Willich, who takes office in early January.