Vivian Ousley owes her heart – and her life – to St. Mary’s Medical Center.
In November 2006, after a particularly stressful Thanksgiving and several years of unexplained pain and fatigue, Ousley faced what more than 500,000 women this year will face – a heart attack.
“This body is my temple. I know when there’s something wrong with it,” said Ousley, who was 68 at the time.
Ousley’s problems became more pronounced the summer before her triple bypass surgery at St. Mary’s. Retired from a local insurance company, Ousley had brushed off feelings of pain between her shoulder blades and increased tiredness.
A large Thanksgiving celebration had taken its toll. A few days later, with her husband out of town, it took her almost 45 minutes to do the simplest tasks in her kitchen – washing out a cereal bowl and rinsing the coffee pot. Dressed in a flannel nightgown, she began to perspire and went outside on her back porch to cool off.
“I asked my neighbor who was walking by to come sit with me,” Ousley said. “She’d had heart problems herself. I was telling her about my pain, my shortness of breath going up and down my stairs, and she said, ‘I’m going to get my car and take you to the doctor.’ But, I told her I wanted to wait until my husband, Curtis, got back from deer hunting. The next day, when he got back, and I had to stop half way up the stairs to rest. Curtis said, ‘That’s it. We’re going to the hospital.’ ”
Ousley said even though she had three brothers who all had heart attacks by the time they were 45, it never dawned on her that cardiovascular disease would affect her.
“When the doctor started asking me questions, it suddenly dawned on me,” she said. “When he did the EKG, it confirmed my suspicion.”
The following day, at her heart catheterization procedure at St. Mary’s, doctors discovered a 100-percent blockage in one artery, along with 95- and 85-percent blockages in two others. Still, two more arteries were blocked at 45 percent and 35 percent. Somewhere along the line, Ousley had suffered a heart attack that had damaged the lower part of her heart and, based on her catheterization, she was primed for a much more serious heart attack – one that physicians told her probably would have killed her.
“They wanted to do the bypass the next day, but I had asthma and a cold that I just couldn’t shake,” Ousley said. “I know now that I was so weak I couldn’t fight it off. All the same, I was scared of being on a respirator and I told doctors I needed time to get myself as healthy as possible before the surgery.”
Leading up to her procedure, Ousley said the staff at St. Mary’s went above and beyond the call of duty to answer her questions and prepare her for the surgery ahead.
“They told me what to expect, gave me books to read, showed me diagrams of my heart and what was blocked. They really listened to me – the doctors, the nurses … everyone.”
The day of her triple bypass surgery, Ousley was ready – and so was the cardiac team at St. Mary’s.
Ousley said the procedure went smoothly, that she spent only six hours on a respirator. The scars from the veins they removed in her legs have since healed and are barely noticeable. She spent six days in the hospital post-operatively and credits her recovery and continued feelings of well-being to her participation in St. Mary’s cardiac rehabilitation program.
The service is designed for patients who have experienced a heart attack, heart surgery or interventional procedure, such as angioplasty or a stent. Cardiac rehabilitation is a multidisciplinary approach to cardiac health that focuses on diet education and a well-monitored exercise program.
“It’s amazing that still today, most folks don’t understand what exercise is,” said Mona Wilson, coordinator of Cardiac Rehabilitation Services at St. Mary’s. “They’ve never experienced exercise. We are able to provide them with instruction, guidance and support in an exercise prescription developed especially for them. Once they start the program, they begin to experience the benefits of regular exercise. They soon see how they can increase their workload and feel better. They also recognize that they’re able to do more at home than before.”
Ousley has attended the cardiac rehabilitation program three days a week since her surgery and said she will remain in the program for her lifetime. Her husband accompanies her and has begun utilizing the service as well. They spend their time exercising on a treadmill, bike and rowing machine under the watchful eyes of staff members who regularly monitor blood pressure and heart rate, as well as offer education and support about patients’ dietary activities and medications.
“I can’t praise the folks who work in cardiac rehab enough,” Ousley said. “They’re wonderful, and it’s comforting to know if there’s a problem, they have a wheelchair right there and you can be right in the hospital in a matter of minutes.”
Cardiac rehabilitation patients have opportunities to meet with dietitians on a regular basis, as well as attend educational sessions about coronary artery disease and the emotional toll of cardiovascular disease.
“One of the best things they get from coming to cardiac rehab to exercise is the support and being part of a group,” Wilson said. “There are lots of conversations that go on between participants here every day, and they gain support from the relationships they develop. They share their concerns, offer support and advice to one another. Cardiac rehab gives patients the tools to help them know what to do and to identify their limitations.
Ousley said she’d never heard of a hospital’s heart program or staff taking such a vested interest in the quality of life of their patients in the months – and even years – following cardiovascular problems.
“I view this as my second chance,” Ousley said. “St. Mary’s has given me a second chance, and I can’t thank them enough for that.”
Heart Attack Warning Signs
Some heart attacks are sudden and intense, but most start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort. Often people affected aren’t sure what’s wrong and wait too long before getting help. Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:
• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the
chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes
back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
• Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
• Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea/vomiting or lightheadedness
If you experience any of these symptoms, call 911 immediately.
Source: The American Heart Association
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