Stanley Hockenberry had always been an active person, serving more than two decades in the U.S. Navy, enjoying camping with his wife and walking his golden retriever, Yeager.
Until the summer of 2022, that’s when his physician saw something on his echocardiogram.
Hockenberry, who lives in Mansfield with his wife, Lisa, had noticed that he had been getting more fatigued after retiring from the Navy and going to work at Bell Helicopter.
“I would come home and hit my chair,” Hockenberry, 59, said. “My wife wasn’t happy. My dog wasn’t happy. No walks.
“My wife made me start getting annual physicals,” he said. “The doctor said my echocardiogram looked good. Then he reviewed it and he caught it. Normally, your lines (on the test) go up and down. Mine had a hiccup. They knew my heart valve wasn’t opening and closing right. They said I had an 80 percent blockage and it was critical.”
Turns out, Hockenberry had severe bicuspid aortic valve stenosis.
The American Heart Association describes the condition as “one of the most common and serious valve disease problems. Aortic stenosis is a narrowing of the aortic valve opening, and can sometimes be referred to as a failing heart valve. Aortic stenosis restricts the blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta and may also affect the pressure in the left atrium. 
“Although some people have aortic stenosis because of a congenital heart defect called a bicuspid aortic valve, this condition more commonly develops during aging as calcium or scarring damages the valve and restricts the amount of blood flowing through.”
Hockenberry’s condition was congenital, meaning that he had had it since birth.
“One theory is that I was a really small baby and they think I was underdeveloped,” said Hockenberry, who was the seventh of 10 siblings. “I was about 3 pounds at birth, and two weeks premature.”
Even though Hockenberry served 24 years in the Navy, his physicals never caught the problem, which isn’t uncommon, said Dr. James Norcross, a cardiothoracic surgeon and Chief Medical Officer at Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital Arlington.
“Sometimes a good physical exam might reveal a murmur,” Norcross said. “They don’t routinely do an echocardiogram.
“It’s actually a fairly common congenital heart condition,” he said. “They may have a heart murmur noted in infancy. Rarely will they need that treated until they are in their 50s. They don’t become symptomatic until their late 40s or 50s.”
That’s what happened to Hockenberry, who gradually started slowing down.
“I thought it was long hours,” he said. “I was just so tired and fatigued. I adapted and just did less and less. In a normal person, blood flows through the body every three to four minutes. Mine took nine minutes because of the blockage.”
People who are experiencing extreme fatigue should see their physician, Norcross said.
“They should have a good exam and if they have a heart murmur noted, they should have an echocardiogram. That’s the best way to initially diagnose it.”
Hockenberry was so tired that he retired from Bell Helicopter in April 2022 before he got the diagnosis in July 2022. He was soon scheduled for open-heart surgery, but that was delayed twice due to Hockenberry’s severe eczema.
He was finally scheduled for surgery in July 2023. That’s when his luck turned.
Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital Arlington is one of the few hospitals in the country that routinely does minimally invasive aortic valve replacement.
“It is still open-heart surgery,” Norcross said. “We put patients on the heart lung machine, and typically patients have a 10- to 12-inch incision, but we don’t have to do that. He had a minimally invasive open-heart surgery with a 2- to 3-inch incision. There’s less transfusions, less blood loss, faster recovery and less discomfort.”
Although the procedure has been around for more than 25 years, few hospitals routinely perform it, Norcross said.
This is a newer technique that is now taught in fellowship programs,” said Sherri Emerson, president of Texas Health Heart & Vascular Hospital Arlington. “It’s a specialization within cardiovascular surgery. The Arlington community now has access to these newer, minimally invasive surgical techniques right here at the Heart Hospital.
Hockenberry was an ideal candidate for the procedure, Norcross said, because he was only 58 and wanted to be active. The procedure is also good for older or frail patients who might not be able to tolerate a more invasive surgery, he said.
“Lots of patients just don’t know that this is available,” Norcross said. “They may be told that their aortic valve needs to be replaced and they just have surgery.”
Hockenberry received a mechanical valve that will never have to be replaced. Patients can also receive tissue valves, made from cow, pig and cadaver tissue that could eventually wear out.
“Some patients do not want to take blood thinners for the rest of their lives,” Norcross said. “They have to take blood thinners if they have a mechanical valve. People think if you are on a blood thinner you can’t have a normal life, but that’s not true.”
The change in people who receive the surgery is dramatic, Emerson said.
“I frequently hear back from patients about how much better they feel after their valve is replaced” she said. “They talk about the activities they can now do that they could not do before. One patient didn’t think that he would be able to walk his daughter down the aisle. After his surgery, he sent us pictures of himself doing just that.”
And the wedding was just a few weeks after surgery, Norcross said.
“We also routinely replace aortic valves though the groin, and see 90-year-olds who were not able to walk to the bathroom that are able to walk up and down the halls the next day,” he said. “I think that’s what leads people to want to be heart surgeons. They can have a big impact on people’s lives. They can change people’s lives.”
Hockenberry felt the difference immediately after surgery.
“I noticed it that next morning when they made me get up and walk,” he said. “I felt better. I wasn’t dizzy. I felt more energy. I felt like I was normal again. For your recovery, you do a lot of walking. I had to walk around the whole upstairs of the house. I went back to see Dr. Norcross after a month and he gave me the OK to resume normal activities.
“Now we go on long Yeager walks,” he said. “We do about three miles twice a day. Our other favorite activity is camping. I’m able to set up the campsite.”
His wife is also excited that he is healthy and the change in his energy level.
“Now we’re going back to doing things we dreamed of, visiting the grandkids,” Hockenberry said. “We just got back from vacation at Marco Island. We’re doing more traveling. We’ve got a trip planned for New York and we’re going camping at Joe Pool Lake.”
Dr. James Norcross, Stanley Hockenberry and Dr. Derek Nieber
Stanley Hockenberry in the Navy
