Words from Dr. Kadar: I am the Cedars-Sinai doctor who became a Cedars-Sinai patient when I unexpectedly had an episode of chest pain. Despite all I knew about heart disease, my first reaction was all too normal—denial. But I got over that, and ten days later, I was having open-heart surgery for a condition known as the “widow maker.” I wrote Getting Better to help people facing a medical crisis (and their loved ones) navigate the road to recovery. I learned a lot from my time as an open-heart surgery patient, and would like others to benefit from my experience. I graduated from Yale Medical School, completed my residency at Stanford and Harvard Universities (Massachusetts General Hospital), and was working as an anesthesiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where I routinely took care of cardiac patients. I got the shock of my life when I suddenly went from doctor to patient. I had always been in great health and had expected that to continue for a long time. I was familiar with illness denial and the symptoms of coronary artery disease. Despite that, I went into denial when I first experienced symptoms. After my diagnosis, I expected to recover in record time from my surgery. That didn’t turn out so well either, since I experienced several complications. My eventual recovery is an encouraging story.
Selected Podcast
EP 1,220B - GETTING BETTER: A Doctor’s Story of Resilience, Recovery and Renewal
Dr. Andrew G. Kadar, MD
Dr. Andrew G. Kadar is a physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology, and a Fellow of the American Society of Anesthesiologists. He graduated from the Yale University School of Medicine and completed residencies at Stanford and Harvard Universities (Massachusetts General Hospital). He has served on the faculties of the UCLA School of Medicine, Charles Drew University, and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Dr. Kadar, who studied in the UCLA Writers’ Program and the Antioch University MFA writing program, has had his work featured in The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, New York Daily News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He’s also appeared on Good Morning America and NBC Nightly News, as well as the Larry Mantle and the Dennis Prager shows. He currently resides in Beverly Hills, CA.