Leslie and Memorial are Painting a New Health Future Together

Leslie is an artist, who paints seascapes and abstracts in the Hollywood area. Even though her paintings are unique, she had one of the most common forms of coronary artery disease in the Western world.

Leslie described her symptoms as having chest pain, shortness of breath, and pain in the left arm and jaw.

“I was misdiagnosed many times and also dismissed by a number of doctors,” Leslie recounted. “I [then] landed at Memorial with Dr. Pastor Cervantes.”

“Leslie has endothelial dysfunction, and her microcirculation was diseased,” said Juan Pastor-Cervantes, MD, Medical Director, Cardiac Catheterization at Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute. “Therapies that we have given to Leslie have improved her symptoms. We have improved her condition, but she depends on the medications to feel better.”

Now Leslie is part of the FREEDOM Trial, which uses the patient’s own cells to potentially repair damage to the tiny blood vessels, called microvasculature. This will help to improve Leslie’s condition even further.

"I feel that I have the best team at Memorial [because] they treat me with compassion, kindness, and have my best interest at heart,” said Leslie.