FOND DU LAC – In politics, a year can be a lifetime.
Just ask Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney.
In November 2022, Toney, a Republican, was running hard down the stretch of a long political race, trying to unseat Josh Kaul as Wisconsin’s Attorney General.
Toney narrowly lost, took a few days off and then went back to work. He resumed a punishing trial schedule in the summer. But something wasn’t quite right.
A trim, 39-year-old who ran marathons, Toney felt fatigued. He consulted doctors. And consulted with them again.
It was discovered he had a bacterial infection that damaged his right aortic valve.
Now, after undergoing open heart surgery in mid-November to replace the valve and receive a single coronary bypass, Toney is here to spread a message: Don’t neglect your health.
And pay attention to what your body is telling you.
“I think a lot of times men chalk up how they’re feeling to ‘I’m busy. I’m stressed. I have a lot going on.’ ” Toney said. “I want to encourage people, don’t ignore symptoms. Get checked out.”
The last few months have left Toney in a reflective mood. He feels grateful for the surgery but also recalls others who were not as fortunate.
“Two or three DA’s (around the state) have died of cardiac issues the last few years,” he said.
One of those who passed away unexpectedly in 2018 was a longtime colleague of Toney’s, Fond du Lac County Deputy District Attorney Dennis R. Krueger.
Toney recently gathered with his doctors from SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital’s Dale Michels Heart & Vascular Care in Fond du Lac. The clinic was named after the late founder of the construction firm Michels Corp. and has been generously supported by the Michels Family Foundation.
Toney ran on a ticket headed by GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels.
“People underestimate just what we can do here,” said Katherine Vergos, SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital president. “From a cardiovascular perspective we do everything but transplants. That is unheard of in many of the other community hospitals around the state and country.”
It was in July when Toney was first hospitalized with inflammation of his muscles.
“He came in feeling terrible, if you can imagine the worst flu of your life, just all of your muscles are sore and you’re tired and fatigued,” cardiologist Marc Atzenhoefer said.
More: Former opponents Josh Kaul, Eric Toney make joint plea for state crime labs funding. Here is their case to lawmakers.
Toney underwent an ultrasound of his heart, which showed that he had a bicuspid aortic valve. It was determined he had developed myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle.
According to the Mayo Clinic: “The aortic valve is between the left lower heart chamber and the body’s main artery, called the aorta. Flaps of tissue on the valve open and close with each heartbeat. The flaps are called cusps. They make sure blood flows in the correct direction.
“Usually the aortic valve has three cusps. A bicuspid valve has only two cusps.”
Atzenhoefer said Toney’s heart was “functioning perfectly” on the ultrasound. Given that the “only other abnormality was this congenital, bicuspid valve, something he was born with,” the decision was made to treat Toney conservatively.
Toney was dehydrated so he was hooked up to an IV to replenish his fluids and told to rest for a couple of days.
Around a month later, Toney was in his office when one of his ankles felt rubbery. He fell. At that point, he consulted with a neurologist and given a full battery of tests. Nothing showed to explain what occurred.
Then in the autumn, he began to experience night sweats and went back to his doctors. By November, a heart murmur was detected. And so was a bacterial infection.
Toney was admitted to the hospital, given antibiotics and underwent more tests that showed the aortic valve was damaged by the infection. It was time for surgery, which he underwent Nov. 15.
“Eric had severe aortic valve insufficiency,” said Thomas Hinkamp, a cardiothoracic surgeon who operated on Toney. “So he had a leaky aortic valve. The infection that he had in his bloodstream had eaten away at the aortic valve. And it had destroyed the aortic valve, the leaflets of the aortic valve. And so they were leaking.
“Once his doctors appreciated that, how severe it was, and the reason why he had a valve that wasn’t working well, he was treated aggressively with antibiotics. And then he was monitored to make sure that his heart didn’t decompensate before we did the surgery.”
Hinkamp replaced the damaged valve with a mechanical aortic valve that he said should last Toney for the rest of his life. He also performed the single coronary bypass after detecting that Toney had a narrowing of his right coronary artery.
Toney’s health is now excellent.
“He’s gonna be able to do whatever he wants to do,” Hinkamp said. “He has really no limitations.”
Well, maybe one limitation. Toney had discussed parachute jumping for his 40th birthday but that’s out.
Like the patient, Toney’s doctors say it’s important to not ignore symptoms.
“It’s a very common thing,” Atzehoefer said. “We find reasons. We find an explanation for why we feel a certain way. And one explanation is, ‘I’m just getting older.’ “
Atzenhoefer added: “Old is not a diagnosis.”
Toney didn’t ignore his problems. He’s now back to work, gearing up for big trials in 2024.
Sure, he was disappointed he didn’t become the state’s attorney general. But he has something more important than a political promotion.
He has good health.
“Sometimes, God puts you where you need to be maybe not where you want or think you’ll be,” he said. “But I love the job I do right now.”
