Cass Regional Medical Center | Wellness Matters | Summer 2020

George Fallot, of Peculiar, Missouri, had a heart attack on March 3, 2019—his birthday. He was washing dishes after lunch and started having chest pains. The uncomfortable feeling in his chest grew throughout the day. He lay down, hoping it would help, but the pain was excruciating. Fallot came to Cass Regional’s Emergency Department for help, and tests indicated that he was having a heart attack. “The care at Cass Regional was incredible,” said Fallot. After being stabilized, he was transferred to a Kansas City-area hospital. There, doctors could not place a stent because the blockage was at 80% and close to his heart. After five days, he was released from the hospital, and he returned for scheduled open-heart surgery a few days later. Fallot had a coronary artery bypass grafting and mitral valve surgery on March 20. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a procedure that people with coronary artery disease may undergo to increase blood flow to the heart. During a CABG procedure, people who have a leak in one of the valves in the heart— the mitral valve—may at the same time undergo a procedure that repairs the valve. “I did whatever I could to get out of the hospital; I did not want to stay there,” said Fallot. “Shortly after my release, Lacy, a nurse from Cass Regional, was calling to schedule cardiac rehabilitation visits.” Cass Regional’s Cardiac Rehabilitation department offers a medically supervised program for individuals with coronary artery disease and for those who are recovering from a heart attack, heart surgery, stent placement, valve replacement, congestive heart failure, left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation or Summer 2020 A second chance after a heart attack From left are Jacqueline Jones, exercise specialist; Roberta Stafford, RN; George Fallot, cardiac rehab patient; Terry Johns, RN; and Lacy Glass, RN, BSN. Photo taken Nov. 4, 2019. —Continued on page 6 wellness Here for Your Health

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