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Editors note: This is the second of a three-part series about Joe Crawley's recent cardiac experience at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital.
By Mellisa Hannum
Special to The Union
Without a moment to spare, Joe Crawley was put on a heart monitor, an electrocardiogram (EKG), and given medication.
Tests were performed to see exactly what was going on with his heart.
Dr. Dawn Harris, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital's (SNMH) Emergency Department assistant director, said that giving medicine as quickly as possible is very important.
“It can be really life saving,” she said.
While Crawley drove himself to the emergency department (ED), Harris advises calling an ambulance if one feels that he or she is experiencing a heart attack.
“Calling an ambulance is a good thing because they can start the medicines in the ambulance, on the way to the hospital,” explained Harris. “The goal with heart attacks is getting the blood flowing back into the heart where the attack/blockage is happening.”
After looking at the test results, which can detect even small amounts of heart damage and blood work that looks for specific proteins, Crawley said that Dr. Ryan Smith, the cardiologist who saw him in the ED, looked over at him and said, “Well my friend, this is what we call a classic M.I. (myocardial infarction).”
“A heart attack is a spectrum from new angina to a blood clot,” Smith said. “The more severe that problem, the more severe the consequences.”
Angina is chest pain or discomfort caused by an area of the heart not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood. It is usually a symptom of coronary heart disease.
Crawley was then sent on to Mercy Heart and Vascular Institute at Mercy General Hospital (recognized as a “Top 100 Hospital for Cardiac Care” in the nation) for a diagnostic catheterization procedure.
“The catheterization suite was waiting for me … there was zero wait,” Crawley said. “The doctor said, ‘We're going to fix you right now.' I said, ‘OK good. I'll see you in a couple hours.'”
Crawley had four stents implanted. Stents are expanding mesh structures that support the artery as it heals. He said that one of his arteries was 100 percent blocked. Crawley said that his wife was told that when there is a 100 percent blockage, the person has a high risk of death. His condition is referred to as the “widow maker,” he explained.
“I should have been dead,” Crawley said.
He was told that his regular exercise regime helped. The blockage happened over a long period of time, and staying fit may have made all of the difference.
“As of yet,” Smith explained, “there is nothing to completely reverse the damage caused by a heart attack, nor to prevent another other than a lifetime of specialized heart medications, in addition to being more aware of the warning symptoms, especially during the prescribed exercise regime. Sometimes follow-up testing is done to evaluate the state of the arteries, especially with any new or changing symptoms.”
After just a couple of days of recovering at Mercy General hospital, Crawley got to go home. He felt lucky and well taken care of during his ED and hospital stays.
Then it was time to start looking at a recovery plan. Every two weeks, he went to see the doctor. After three months, an echo cardiogram stress test was performed to see if Crawley was strong enough to go to rehab. He was.
Look forward to the conclusion of this three-part series Tuesday, Feb. 21. The third installment will take you through Joe Crawley's Cardiac Rehab experience at SNMH. All physicians providing care for patients at SNMH are members of the medical staff and are independent practitioners, not employees of the hospital.
By Mellisa Hannum
Special to The Union
Without a moment to spare, Joe Crawley was put on a heart monitor, an electrocardiogram (EKG), and given medication.
Tests were performed to see exactly what was going on with his heart.
Dr. Dawn Harris, Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital's (SNMH) Emergency Department assistant director, said that giving medicine as quickly as possible is very important.
“It can be really life saving,” she said.
While Crawley drove himself to the emergency department (ED), Harris advises calling an ambulance if one feels that he or she is experiencing a heart attack.
“Calling an ambulance is a good thing because they can start the medicines in the ambulance, on the way to the hospital,” explained Harris. “The goal with heart attacks is getting the blood flowing back into the heart where the attack/blockage is happening.”
After looking at the test results, which can detect even small amounts of heart damage and blood work that looks for specific proteins, Crawley said that Dr. Ryan Smith, the cardiologist who saw him in the ED, looked over at him and said, “Well my friend, this is what we call a classic M.I. (myocardial infarction).”
“A heart attack is a spectrum from new angina to a blood clot,” Smith said. “The more severe that problem, the more severe the consequences.”
Angina is chest pain or discomfort caused by an area of the heart not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood. It is usually a symptom of coronary heart disease.
Crawley was then sent on to Mercy Heart and Vascular Institute at Mercy General Hospital (recognized as a “Top 100 Hospital for Cardiac Care” in the nation) for a diagnostic catheterization procedure.
“The catheterization suite was waiting for me … there was zero wait,” Crawley said. “The doctor said, ‘We're going to fix you right now.' I said, ‘OK good. I'll see you in a couple hours.'”
Crawley had four stents implanted. Stents are expanding mesh structures that support the artery as it heals. He said that one of his arteries was 100 percent blocked. Crawley said that his wife was told that when there is a 100 percent blockage, the person has a high risk of death. His condition is referred to as the “widow maker,” he explained.
“I should have been dead,” Crawley said.
He was told that his regular exercise regime helped. The blockage happened over a long period of time, and staying fit may have made all of the difference.
“As of yet,” Smith explained, “there is nothing to completely reverse the damage caused by a heart attack, nor to prevent another other than a lifetime of specialized heart medications, in addition to being more aware of the warning symptoms, especially during the prescribed exercise regime. Sometimes follow-up testing is done to evaluate the state of the arteries, especially with any new or changing symptoms.”
After just a couple of days of recovering at Mercy General hospital, Crawley got to go home. He felt lucky and well taken care of during his ED and hospital stays.
Then it was time to start looking at a recovery plan. Every two weeks, he went to see the doctor. After three months, an echo cardiogram stress test was performed to see if Crawley was strong enough to go to rehab. He was.
Look forward to the conclusion of this three-part series Tuesday, Feb. 21. The third installment will take you through Joe Crawley's Cardiac Rehab experience at SNMH. All physicians providing care for patients at SNMH are members of the medical staff and are independent practitioners, not employees of the hospital.
