At 85 years-old, Fred Kipp doesn’t plan on slowing down any less than his fastball.
"We pour sidewalk. I got three guys work for me,” said the former baseball star to 41 Action News Wednesday.
Kipp wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every morning and still works regular shifts, currently for Primary Care Landscape in Olathe.
He is also believed to be the last living person to play for the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, and also play for the New York Yankees.
"That's Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges and myself,” said the Piqua, Kansas native as he pointed to a barrage of pictures in his Overland Park basement.
"That's Yogi and Don Larsen. I seen that game in 56,” he said in reference to Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
Kipp threw batting practice at the stadium that day before the game, and was sitting in the seats when Larsen got that historic final out.
Kipp played for the Dodgers organization from 1956-1959, and for the Yankees organization in 1960. He played with stars ranging from Jackie Robinson to Roger Maris.
However, the former Dodger couldn’t dodge what his heart threw at him in May.
"About the size of a quarter that valve is. And it was down to about that big,” Kipp said, showing his pinkie finger.
Kipp was diagnosed with aortic stenosis, a narrowing of the aortic valve in his heart.
Fortunately, Kipp qualified to undergo trans-catheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR.
"Trans-catheter aortic valve replacement may be better early on, but only if we can replace it through the leg,” said Dr. Suzanne Baron, cardiologist at St. Luke's Mid-America Heart Institute.
St. Luke’s said they were one of the first hospitals to perform TAVR after it was approved roughly six years ago. The now perform about 200 TAVR procedures per year.
Traditionally, TAVR has been a last resort for high-risk patients. But now doctors have found that even with intermediate risk patients, such as Kipp, overall risks are about the same when replacing the valve through a catheter up the leg. The difference is in recovery time – it’s exponentially faster than open heart surgery.
"They don't need to be put under general anesthesia. They don't need to be put on a breathing machine. They're sedated. We do the procedure and they're awake; they're talking to their family as they leave the procedure room,” Dr. Baron said.
"For surgical AVR, folks are generally in the hospital for about five to seven days. Usually are off work for about a month,” she said.
So instead of weeks of recovery following open heart surgery, Kipp was back home the next day.
“I feel every bit as good, probably better, than before I had the procedures,” Kipp said.
Kipp added the only discomfort came from the cold operating table, which is quite alright with him.
“It’s better than having your chest cut open and your heart pulled apart,” he joked.
The hope is that performing TAVR on low-risk patients will become the new standard for aortic valve replacement. St. Luke’s is currently enrolling in a new clinical trial that will allow them to accept low-risk patients for the procedure.
KU hospital also confirmed with 41 Action News that they too perform TAVR and that they are also enrolling in a separate clinical trial to accept low-risk patients.
For more information you can call 916.932.VALV (8258) or email valves@saintlukeskc.org.
