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s tori es from th e h eart
“I was too busy to be sick. I was putting
in 14-hour days at work. I went to bed
exhausted, and the next thing I knew I
was waking up in the Acute Cardiac Care
Unit at DCH several days later asking for
ice cream. They told me my heart had
stopped. The paramedics shocked me
twice and got it beating again. At DCH,
they induced hypothermia because
my brain had been deprived of oxygen
during a massive heart attack. God sent
me back and without brain damage. I
thank Him every day for the remarkable
staff at DCH. God bless each of them.”
“It was a Friday afternoon. My wife had an
appointment at DCH, and I went with her. I had
some tingling in my hand—it felt like it had gone
to sleep. I asked the doctor about it. He gave me a
stress test that afternoon and said I needed to have
a heart cath immediately. Within 15 minutes after
the cath, he came out and said I had 99 percent
blockage in some arteries. They were able to do
three bypasses. The doctors, nurses and staff
were phenomenal! They really cared. And the
care I received was as good as anywhere in the
country.”
“I went to pick up my mother, who has Alzheim-
er’s, and I blacked out. No advance warning.
I was just out. Luckily, I was so close to DCH.
I was given CPR and then shocked five times.
They said they were ready to give up on me but
decided to try one more time. The sixth
one worked. I had triple bypass surgery,
and then a pacemaker was inserted.
When my doctor sees me now he
says, ‘Here comes Wonder Woman!’
From ER to surgery and then CSICU
(Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care
Unit), they were wonderful. My heart
stopped beating, but today it’s still
ticking! I’m very lucky to be here.”
Linda Johnson
Rick Hanna
Pearlie Duncan
“The wonderful doctors
and nurses worked around
the clock. I could not have
asked for better care.”
“If I hadn’t had the surgery, I
wouldn’t have made it through
the weekend. It’s amazing to
have great care like that in a
community this size.”
“When my
doctor sees me
now, he says,
‘Here comes
Wonder Woman!’”
s tori es from th e h eart
“I was at home when I suddenly felt a mild
discomfort. I gasped for air and passed out.
By the time I got to DCH, I’d been without
oxygen for 12 minutes and had only a
10 percent chance of living. They rushed
me straight to the cath lab, put in three
stents, then put me in a coma [induced
hypothermia] so my brain wouldn’t swell.
After 10 days, I’d improved enough to
go to rehab at the DCH Rehabilitation
Pavilion. From the cath lab to the nurses
in the ACCU (Acute Cardiac Care Unit) to
the doctors and the rehab unit, everyone
treated my wife and me extremely well. I
had the right people at the right place at
the right time.”
Tom Hunter
“I was basically
declared dead, but
here I am. DCH
saved my life.”
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