A Heart Repaired and a Heart Touched

Ramon Hinds was awoken from sleep by pressure in his chest. For the next two days he felt heartburn, tingling in his fingers, and fatigue. He didn’t know it then, but Hinds was having a heart attack, despite no previous history of cardiovascular disease. With the feelings worsening, Hinds was taken by ambulance to the emergency department at The Miriam Hospital and brought to the cardiac catheterization lab.

“Ramon had a total occlusion at the origin of his left anterior descending artery, which is a very critical spot,” explains Douglas M. Burtt, MD, medical director of inpatient services at the Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute. The interventional cardiology team inserted a stent to open the artery and allow blood to flow. Hinds returned home, but did not stay there long.

“My fourth day home, things started going downhill quickly,” he recalls. “I was feeling worse than the first time. I knew it was happening all over again.” He was rushed again to The Miriam, in full cardiac arrest after a second heart attack caused by a blood clot.

Hinds was one of a small number of patients who don't respond to the anticoagulants prescribed after surgery.

Peter A. Soukas, MD, director of the Peripheral Vascular Interventional Laboratory, performed another stent surgery and prescribed an alternative anticoagulant. With his heart functioning properly, Hinds enrolled in the 12-week Cardiopulmonary Maintenance Program at The Miriam. The personalized exercise program helped him achieve his health goals and gave him the confidence to go back to living his life fully.

“They provided a comfort zone for me during a vulnerable time,” Hinds recalls. “They’re all amazing people who care deeply for the patients they work with. You can feel the love!”

During the time he was in the hospital, Hinds had written a poem of appreciation for the team and framed it as a gift. Reflecting back on the poem, Dr. Soukas says, “I have to admit, I was a little misty-eyed at his kind gesture.”