Patient Stories: Heart

Heart & Vascular Institute-Southwest

John
An insider’s view: The coronary care staff was all I expected... and more

I’m fairly familiar with the staff at Memorial Hermann Southwest and their reputation for quality care. After all, I’m one of the hospital’s department directors.

Like many men, I kept putting off the cardiac stress test my family physician recommended. Then one day I bumped into Dr. Kesavan Shan in the hall, and I mentioned in passing that I needed to have that stress test. The next day, his office called to schedule it. Imagine that – with everything on his mind, a doctor caring enough to have his office call me.

Dr. Shan did the stress test on a Wednesday and told me to come back that Friday for a catheterization, a type of X-ray view of the heart pumping. While I had no symptoms of heart problems, I did have blockage of the coronary arteries. Dr. Shan said the cath would determine what percentage my arteries were blocked and what treatment would be best.

Immediately after the catheterization, Dr. Vargas told my wife and me that bypass surgery was needed – and that very day. I’m grateful I didn’t have to fret and worry about it all weekend.
   

It was a six-hour surgery, and five days later I was discharged.

The staff was as kind, caring and professional as I expected. They really come through with all the things Memorial Hermann Southwest said it does. The hospital’s philosophy is expressed every day in the nursing staff’s behavior. They were as accommodating as they could be, and three weeks after open-heart surgery, I was back to work.

I started a walking program after surgery – even though at first I could walk just to the corner of my street. Now, five weeks after the surgery, my incisions are nearly healed and I’m walking a mile in 18 minutes. Thank you, Memorial Hermann!