CLEVELAND — He’s a Cleveland sports radio icon. The voice is instantly recognizable. But after a 43-year career, it was time for Mark “Munch” Bishop’s pipes to get a tune-up.
“I had a polyp on my vocal cord, it was non-cancerous,” Munch said.
Last June, his doctor scheduled surgery.
All Munch needed to do beforehand was get the pre-surgical screening at Cleveland Clinic’s Avon Hospital. Everything was going well until a nurse practitioner listened to his chest.
“She goes, ‘don't be alarmed. But I hear something I don't like’, Munch said.
Munch is "Mr. Energy;" the radio icon always takes the stairs, rides his bike, his blood pressure is perfect. He says he had no symptoms at all.
A battery of tests, scans, and imaging revealed two things: Munch's vocal cord surgery had to wait. His heart, would not.
“He came in for one thing and here you go, now you got to have heart surgery, and fairly big heart surgery, said Dr. Nicholas Smedira, Cleveland Clinic cardiovascular surgeon.
Dr. Smedira determined Munch needed a new aortic valve and a bypass of the left anterior descending artery, also known as the LAD; the artery has a nickname when it becomes blocked: the widow maker.
The LAD, or left anterior descending artery, is considered the most important of the three main coronary arteries. It’s usually always the largest and runs down the front wall of the heart.
Munch learned on June 29th that he would undergo open-heart surgery on July 1. He wouldn’t leave the hospital for ten days.
Munch is a veteran of minor surgeries and took this one in stride too. But he knew recovery would be a challenging journey.
He credits his Cleveland Clinic team for preparing him for every phase. And of course true to form, as soon as he awoke from surgery and could talk, he only had one question.
“I looked at the doc and asked, 'did the Indians win last night?' And next thing I know I was in and out for a while in ICU,” Munch said.
Recovery hasn't been all fun and games. Four months have passed and Munch is still recovering slowly at home, with his wife and four children helping. The pain is better, but still there.
“I know it sounds small, but I want to sneeze, cough or laugh without my chest hurting," he said.
Munch praises science and the Cleveland Clinic medical team that restored his health, but his faith weaved its way throughout his story. It sustained him, and he believes a miracle was at work too. God has much bigger plans for his heart.
“It's given me a different attitude. Even for a crazy guy, like me it's actually made me a little bit more peaceful,” Munch said.
He still needs that vocal cord surgery, but that’s an adventure for 2022.
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