NYC Mother And Son Have Potentially Life-Saving Operations On Same Day

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A New York City mother and her son both had potentially life-saving operations on the same day.

The family bond just got a lot stronger between Miriam Goldberg and her son, Dr. Steven Goldberg, all thanks to double-heart surgeries on the same day at The Mount Sinai Hospital, CBS2's Andrea Grymes reported.

"We're recuperating together," said Steven. "We're doing great."

It all started when Steven decided to come to Mount Sinai to finally fix a leaky aortic valve stemming from a birth defect.

"He was sort of on the precipice or cliff of bad heart failure and needed to be fixed before he did irreversible damage to his heart," said Dr. Allan Stewart, director of aortic surgery at Mount Sinai.

Unbeknownst to Steven, he wasn't just saving his life but his mother's, too when Miriam decided to also get tested.

"She hadn't had any surgery her whole life," Steven said. "She figured she'd have herself checked and sure enough she needed the surgery, as well."

Miriam found out she had aortic valve stenosis, when calcium builds up leaving a smaller opening for blood to pump through. It could eventually lead to congestive heart failure.

"It was beginning to close and everything else around it was normal," Miriam said. "And so she said you have to have it done as quickly as possible before everything else gets worse and before it closes because if it closes, you're gone."

Stewart said he decided to do both of their minimally invasive operations on the same day.

"Neither one can compare notes and they don't have to watch the recovery of the other," Stewart said. "They can do it together and actually act as a support system for one another."

And enjoy a new lease on life together.

The Goldbergs are still in the hospital and should be released in the next few days.