Steve Stafford
Steve Stafford said his doctors expect him to make a full recovery after a six-hour surgery to replace an infected aortic valve Jan. 29.
Stafford, 65, is the CEO and chairman of Anstaff Bank, formerly known as First National Bank of Green Forest. Stafford was at the Cleveland Clinic for his annual checkup on his aorta, which was surgically repaired 13 years ago with a bovine valve and artificial tube after he was diagnosed with an aneurysm.
During the checkup, doctors discovered the valve was infected with bacteria and the infected spot had grown to the size of a thumbnail, Stafford said. Stafford said he was lucky to be at the clinic when he was tested or else his mild symptoms of fever could have been mistaken for the flu.
“I thought I was in great shape,” Stafford said. “Somehow I got a bug.”
Stafford stayed in the hospital for three weeks before returning to Green Forest.
He has returned to work for a few hours a week spread over two days and keeps up with bank business at home, where he gives himself an antibiotic through an IV every morning.
Stafford said he returns to the clinic March 22 and hopes to be back at the bank full time soon after.
“I feel like I have this licked,” Stafford said.
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