ST PAUL, Minn. — Listening has been the key to husband and wife David and Audrey Olsen's 61-year-marriage.
The two of them volunteer in the human body exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota. David, 85, teaches kids about the heart. His wife Audrey, 88, covers the ears.
"They don't all listen, but a lot of them do," laughed David.
The best part of the shift is that they do it together.
"He is everything to me," said Audrey.
Over decades of volunteering, David and Audrey became experts in the ear and the heart — which is why they knew Audrey needed help.
"I couldn't breath," Audrey said, describing going from her bedroom to the bathroom.
Dr. Marat Yanavitski is a cardiologist and head of the Cath Lab at M Health Fairview St. Johns Hospital. He helped Audrey six months ago when she was referred to him.
"A decade ago, she had a condition called aortic stenosis," he described. "Her native aortic valve was synaptic, which was narrowed."
Audrey's heart was working harder than normal to pump blood to her body. Eventually, she started showing symptoms that her heart wasn't working properly.
She's had a prosthetic valve put in before, but she's older now and open heart surgery would be dangerous.
"If left untreated, this is a universally morbid condition and about half the people die of the disease within the first couple of years," said Yanavitski.
"We like being together, I can't imagine a life without her," said David.
Nowadays, doctors don't need to open the chest and they can enter the body through a vessel in the leg, and it's less risky for people like 88-year-old Audrey.
"We are very thankful for our doctors for identifying her problem, and then getting it fixed," said David,
"I'm feeling great," described Audrey.
Audrey says she is back to her usual self, although her husband has learned more about the heart than he ever wanted to.
"I probably suffered more than she did," laughed David.
Now they use each others ailments as examples, including David's hearing loss and Audrey's heart.
And now that it's strong again, they can't wait for more years of giving their hearts to one another.
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