We are the best in the nation.” That’s a distinction that’s the result of lots of work by lots of people. Dr. Ghose and the cath lab staff inserted a stent in one of David’s coronary arteries and performed a balloon angioplasty to open another arterial branch. “Honestly, I really don’t think he would have lived if he hadn’t decided to come in, with that kind of blockage,” Dr. Ghose says. The work done in the emergency department and the cath lab on David ’s heart was just the beginning. After David’s heart attack on Nov. 10, he remained at LMH for three days. Along the way, the Slacks met with 13 physicians and countless nurses and rehabilitation specialists. “Every question we had was answered with compassion and with thoughtfulness,” says Cheryl, a retired elementary school teacher and cheer coach. “They gave us accurate information, but they were kind and compassionate.” “And smart,” David adds. “There are some smart, smart people who work here.”
David Slack with LMH Cath Lab staff and Dr. Ghose, right
After being dismissed as an inpatient, he began work in cardiac rehabilitation, on the third floor of LMH. “It’s just like going to a gym, really,” says David, who often wears a shirt and tie to rehab. “I try to go every day that I can.” He uses the treadmill, a recumbent bicycle and an arm bike for a prescribed amount of time, all while rehab staffers monitor his heart rate and oxygen levels on computers. And David and Cheryl can ask questions of the rehab staff. “It’s very reassuring,” David says, “that you’re not going through this alone. They know my name. They know everyone’s name. It’s like a classroom up there.”
About 30 days after his heart attack, he traveled to Colorado for three days of work. But this trip was different. David had made some changes. He learned his heart needed to recover because blood flow had been reduced for some period of time. He now tries to sleep eight hours a night. Not five. He’s learned that sleep — something David always believed was a waste of time — actually is good for him. He’s also improved his diet. After the first of the year, he resumed traveling. During one week in January, he saw clients in Boulder, Denver and Baltimore. “It’s a normal work schedule, with time for sleeping and time for exercise on the road,” David says. And in March, just four months after his potentially fatal heart attack, David’s cardiologist gave him great news: His heart is functioning normally. “He is charmed,” Cheryl says. “Being here at LMH is the biggest charm.” —by Caroline Trowbridge
Take heart: women and heart health Cardiology as a field is dominated by men. Nationwide, just 10 percent of cardiologists are women, so it is unique that the Cardiovascular Specialists of Lawrence was able to hire two female cardiologists. The addition of Christina Salazar, MD, and Elizabeth Guastello, MD, to the LMH staff last September has sparked a women’s heart health initiative in Lawrence. Women’s heart health “is kind of a sexy thing right now,” as Dr. Guastello says. The movement has become popular nationally, and for good reason. “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of everyone,” she says. Becki Carl Stutz, director of Cardiovascular Specialists of Lawrence, says that as LMH officials reviewed services several years ago, they determined many women were unaware of the differences between men’s and women’s heart disease. LMH and the practice saw this as an opportunity. So Drs. Salazar and Guastello have developed a program called Take Heart: Women’s Cardiac Care. The program assesses risk of heart disease in women and then generates the appropriate treatment. Its main goal is to increase awareness of heart disease among women in the Lawrence community, involving women and primary care providers in the discussion. Dr. Guastello and Dr. Salazar
Heart disease is not identical in men and women. The most prominent difference is the symptoms. Both genders can experience chest pain, which permeates through the left arm. There are, however, other symptoms. For women, those can include nausea, vomiting, and back or jaw pain. “Women can have more flu-like symptoms,” explains Dr. Guastello. Typically, women suffering from these symptoms then treat themselves for flu. “Meanwhile, time is ticking.” It may not be until 48 hours later that the woman will realize she does not have the flu. This is especially dangerous because time is of the essence when an artery is blocked. Delayed treatment causes more damage to hearts, so women fare worse than men after experiencing a heart attack. According to Dr. Salazar, women are nationally undertreated. Part of this has to do with women’s tendencies to nurture and take care of others, and sometimes neglect their own health. Take Heart aims to create a community of women in Lawrence who will help one another. The idea is that if a woman does not want to come in for a doctor’s visit or to the emergency department, maybe a friend or her sister will convince her. For more information about Take Heart, visit www.lmh.org/takeheart.
—by Margo Bogossian
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