It was the day after Christmas in 2007 when Kurt Saupe finally agreed to head into urgent care. His wife had noticed that the seemingly fit and healthy researcher with UW-Madisonâ??s department of medicine was getting out of breath simply walking up stairs at home, and prodded him to get checked out.
An X-ray showed that much of Saupeâ??s left lung was filled with liquid. Two days later, a needle was inserted between his ribs, and three liters of fluid were drained off.
“And I was feeling much better,” says Saupe, whose name rhymes with “copy.”
But Saupeâ??s wife, a heart failure and transplant specialist with UW Hospital and Clinics, sensed something was very wrong.