SAN ANTONIO – From the Memorial Day Miracle shot to the first Spurs championship, Sean Elliott won the hearts of fans during his playing and broadcasting days in the Alamo City.
But his recent heart scare had his fans talking and sharing their concern for the Spurs legend. Elliott sat down with KSAT to discuss his recent procedure to shock his heart back to rhythm.
“My watch kept telling me you’re in Atrial Fibrillation. It just kept telling me over and over again and I said, ‘there’s no way, I feel fine,’” said Elliott. “Thank goodness I was wearing my watch because imagine going a month or two with Afib and not knowing it because it wasn’t going away once it was diagnosed.”
Elliott was suffering from an irregular heartbeat, but said he didn’t have any symptoms and felt fine. But his watch kept warning him something was wrong.
“For four or five days, I just blew it off. But one morning, it told me two or three times, and I said, okay, I’m going to call Dr. Triana,” said Elliott.
His longtime cardiologist, Dr. J. Fernando Triana, Physician in Chief at Methodist Hospital, told Sean he needed to see him immediately.
“Afib is probably the most common for irregularity of the heartbeat in the United States, probably 8 to 9 million Americans live with chronic, Atrial Fibrillation,” she said.
Symptoms for Afib include chest pain, dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath. Elliott told KSAT he wasn’t feeling any of these, but not treating it could lead to serious problems and blood clots.
“Once the blood clots form in that chamber, it goes into the other chambers of the heart and it has the possibility of traveling to the body,” said Triana.
Elliott went to the hospital and had a successful procedure called a cardioversion to shock his heart back into rhythm. Triana’s daughter, Dr. Taylor Triana, MD, MBA Cardiologist, performed the procedure, making this a family affair.
“If there’s no blood clot, we then proceed with a cardioversion. The whole procedure takes about 30 minutes and then we monitor them in recovery for about another 30 minutes. After that, the patient can go home,” said Taylor Triana.
Elliott was good to go home that evening. His wife, Claudia, posted the good news on Instagram and he received a ton of messages from friends, family and his NBA colleagues.
“It kind of took on a life of its own. It’s something that was totally unexpected,” said Elliott. “I was home that night. At the end of that reel, my wife Claudia is bringing me a big giant plate of chicken because I wasn’t allowed to eat all day, and I was starving. I was back to normal.”
Elliott has spoken out about his health concerns in the past. He is an advocate for kidney health after undergoing a transplant in 1999.
“I trust medical science. Obviously with a kidney transplant, I’m living, breathing proof of what medical technology can do for you. Stay on top of it. Get yourself checked or make sure you’re not in Afib like I was again. I had absolutely no idea,” said Elliott.
Elliott said he’s already back on the golf course and ready to go back to the Spurs broadcast booth.
“I’m just thrilled to be healthy right now and really looking forward to next year because there are going to be great things to come, I promise you that,” said Elliott.