We are family' | | hccommunityjournal.com - Community journal

From lifesaving intervention to ongoing cardiac rehabilitation, three Kerrville residents say that the care they have received from Peterson Health's Heart and Vascular Services has positively changed their respective lives forever.

While each arrived at Peterson Regional Medical Center with varying health issues and symptoms, Dwayne Capps, Steve Gibson and Linda Hise credit their hard work and committed guidance from Cardiac Rehab team members for their ongoing success and healthy evolution.

"Cardiac Rehab is an exercise and educational program." Jana Cain, registered nurse and clinical coordinator, said. "Benefitting anyone who has had a heart attack, heart stints, bypass surgery, heart valve surgery … usually it's a major surgery, or they are de-conditioned."

Cain said the Cardiac Rehab team works with each patient to help build strength and stamina through an individualized exercise program and lifestyle change education.

"We try to get them into better shape physically to where they can tolerate exercise and learn an exercise program on their own. We also do education to teach them about their risk factors."

Cain said each patient is different and programs are unique to each patient's needs.

"If they have high blood pressure, we teach them to implement a low-sodium diet, lose weight and things of that nature," Cain said. "We teach them the lifestyle changes that will help them become stronger and healthier."

While the Peterson Health Cardiac Rehab team works independently with the patient, Cain is in regular contact with cardiologists and works under the direction of Dr. Iliana Arellano, a cardiologist and the team's medical director.

Dwayne Capps

Capps, 79, said he considers the Peterson Health Cardiac Rehab team to be family, saying he would not be alive today without the guidance and training he received after his first heart attack.

"I had my first heart attack in 2017," Capps said. "I've been a regular customer for the past six years. I had another heart attack in December. I wouldn't be here right now if not for the collateral circulation that I had built up through the Cardiac Rehab program."

Capps, a U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran, who spent his career as a builder and working construction, considered himself to be in good physical condition until his first heart attack.

After receiving treatment through Peterson Health Cardiac Intervention, Capps was sent to the rehab team.

"They create a program based on your ability," Capps said. "I found it to be easy to do."

Capps described his time spent with the Cardiac Rehab team as being thorough.

"When you first come in, they take your blood pressure and your temperature and put a heart monitor on you," Capps said. "Then you go to the machines … treadmills, NuStep, fluid machines, bicycles, the whole gamut."

Cain said that all patients have the vital signs taken upon arrival and are given a heart monitor.

"Then they exercise for 45 minutes and then we take their vital signs again to make sure they return to normal after exercise, and before they leave," Cain said.

According to Capps, he was able to tell he was getting stronger and healthier over his years of participating in the rehab program and said he felt his most recent heart attack was due to a "fluke."

"I was having a colonoscopy and endoscopy done and I had to stop taking my blood-thinning medicine," Capps said. "I had two clots and had to rely on the collateral circulation I had built up through this program to pull me through."

As a patient, Capps said he is thankful for the Peterson Health team and knows his life was spared because of their hard work and dedication, however, he equally appreciates the friends he makes with other patients.

"We have great camaraderie here and I enjoy seeing my new friends during my appointments," Capps said. "We are a family here."

Feeling stronger and healthier, Capps said he goes on walks "quite a bit" and uses his home exercise equipment regularly. Overall, Capps said, he is enjoying life each day and attributes the ability to do so to his Cardiac Rehab care team.

Steve Gibson

Gibson's story began a little differently, as he did not have heart troubles, but rather pulmonary function (breathing) difficulties.

"I didn't have a heart attack. I had a hard time with my breathing … getting winded real quickly," Gibson, 71, said. "My cardiologist wanted to increase the blood flow around my heart and also increase my pulmonary functions and that's the main reason why I came."

Because he was having trouble with his breathing and stamina, Gibson said he was very apprehensive when he was sent to Cardiac Rehab.

"I didn't think I had the pulmonary function to perform the exercises," Gibson said. "But, they were very nice and helpful. We looked at what my capabilities were and we started off at that point."

Gibson said he learned quickly that his Cardiac Rehab team would walk beside him every step of the way.

"They are constantly checking on me and making sure I am feeling well," Gibson said. "Since I arrived, I have been able to increase the amount of exercise I do greatly. They want to push you to your capabilities, but they don't want you to fail by pushing you too hard. It's a perfect balance that works."

As Gibson began to see himself get stronger and his breathing improved, Gibson said he also began implementing the lifestyle changes that his team created specifically for him.

"I changed my diet. I exercise not only here, but at home," Gibson said. "They are so supportive in so many ways. I can't believe how my pulmonary functions have increased since I've been coming here."

Gibson said before participating in cardiac rehab, he couldn't walk from his front door to his vehicle without getting winded.

"I'm walking at home regularly," Gibson said. "Also, my wife and I raise and train bird dogs and I'm back out in the field with my dogs again and being able to do the things I couldn't do for the last year and a half. I credit it all for the work I've done here and the people here that have helped me get to where I am now."

Gibson has been diligently working with Peterson Health Cardiac Rehab team members for the past five months.

"I have an exercise and diet regimen that I do at home now that will carry on, because I've seen the benefits of what has happened here," Gibson said. "I don't want to go back to where I was. I don't want to be there again."

Gibson said the quality of life that he has recovered means the world to him.

"Our work with the dogs means the world to me. We've been doing it for over 20 years, traveling around the country doing hunt tests," Gibson said. "My wife (Jenny) had to train the dogs by herself for the past two years, because I just couldn't do it … and now I'm back and I never want to give that up again."

Cain said while most adults know that eating healthy and exercising is key to good health, they often don't practice a healthy lifestyle, but at Peterson Health Cardiac Rehab, team members hold patients accountable.

"For the majority of people, they need to lose weight," Cain said. "So, we weigh in every single Monday. If you have congestive heart failure, you weigh in every day. The average weight loss is two pounds per month and Steve (Gibson) has lost 12 pounds in four months."

Gibson said he will always be grateful for the dedication of the rehab team and the tools they've given him that will ultimately add years to his life and make those years productive and enjoyable.

Linda Hise

Hise, 75, said she had recovered from the flu and was having shoulder and back pain in November.

"This was the Monday after Thanksgiving," Hise said. "I had been very busy. We had tons of people at our home and I just kept thinking I would feel better."

She said she took over-the-counter pain relievers and used hot and cold packs to help with the pain that was concentrated between her shoulder blades.

"Nothing helped," Hise said. "I remembered that a friend of mine woke up one morning and her back was hurting her across the shoulders, too. No chest pain. No arm pain. No shortness of breath and no nausea. It was just that her back hurt. She walked in to tell her husband and collapsed and it was a heart attack."

Her friend's story prompted Hise to seek treatment.

"We went straight to the (Peterson Regional Medical Center) emergency room and after the blood analysis, they said that I had a heart attack and had two major blockages," Hise said. "A day later I had a stint implanted and then they set me up for Jan. 3 to start here and I am so grateful."

Hise said her diagnosis was shocking, as she had been relatively healthy all her life and had no family history of heart disease.

"I'm not too overweight and am very active," Hise said. "I was very emotional and I still am, when you think about what could have happened."

As a cardiac rehab patient, Hise said her goals are to "stay alive" and strengthen her heart, lose 10 pounds and enjoy an active and productive life.

"I enjoy coming here. I look forward to it," Hise said. "I love the staff here. They are all very genuine people."

The Peterson Health Cardiac Rehab center is staffed with three registered nurses and two physical therapists.

Cain said each patient is given goals when they arrive. Goals include to lose at least two pounds per month. Their individual exercise program is measured in metabolic equivalence, which is how much energy your body needs to complete a task.

"So, we measure their METS," Cain said. "We do a test on the treadmill to push them as far as they can go. Our patients' METS are usually about a two or three when they start, so we set a goal of having that number increase to four by mid-eval."

Jason Loftin, Peterson Health director of Heart and Vascular Services, explained the three-phase approach followed by staff in the Peterson Health Cardiac Clinic, saying the first phase is intervention.

The second phase is the 36-week program performed in the Cardiac Rehab center.

"That's the initial wellness phase where the education happens," Loftin said. "That's where the real meat, as far as the wellness piece, begins."

The third phase, Loftin said, begins when the patient is released from rehab.

"This is wellness for the rest of your life," Loftin said. "That's where you take those things learned in Phase 2. You continue to eat right. You continue to exercise and do the things you need to do remain healthy."

While all three participants in the program praised their experience with the cardiac rehab team, Gibson and Hise will be discharged from the program after their 36-week treatment, due to insurance limitations, however they will not be forgotten by the Peterson Health team.

Cain said each patient is encouraged to contact them even after being discharged with questions or concerns. In addition, Peterson Health will soon open its first-ever Wellness Center to accommodate the needs of rehab patients, as well as staff.

Cain said her motivation in her work lies in being able to witness the progress and success of her patients.

"It brings tears to my eyes to see a patient come in with an external defibrillator because they are so weak, and then after working with them for 4-5 months hearing the doctor say they don't need a defibrillator implanted anymore. That makes me so happy," Cain said. "Seeing this program work for our patients is why I come to work every day."

According to Cain, there are more men than women being treated within her department and the average age of patients is 70 years  old.