Kathryn Conway
Walk through the lobby of Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, and you'll likely see Kathryn Conway helping a patient. Conway has worked at the hospital for more than 35 years, but one day particularly stands out.
"I had a heart attack right here at work," she said. "Luckily, I work near the emergency room and my director got me over there quickly and everything worked out just fine." Since her 1999 heart attack, Conway has been dedicated to improving her cardiac health — and that of others.
"It is a long hard recovery, or at least it was for me," she said. "But I've been exercising – even more than I was before I had my heart attack. If somebody else is having problems, and they see me knowing that I've gone through bypass surgery and recuperated fully, I hope they'll ask, ‘Why can't I do that?'"
Arthur Bone: Savoring Life after
'I Basically Died' during Heart Attack
Arthur Bone of Godley, Tex., woke up one morning with back pain. Within minutes, the pain had moved to his chest, and his wife called 9-1-1. By the time paramedics arrived, Arthur was unconscious.
Call toll-free 1-877-THR-WELL or Contact Us online for
a physician referral or to learn more about cardiology services available at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth.
Conway spent two months in the Cardiac Rehabilitation program and continues her weekly workouts in the Fitness Center, adjacent to the rehabilitation area. She hopes others will learn from her experience and pay more attention to staying healthy.
"People do not pay attention to their heart," she said. "They usually pay more attention to their cars, putting in gas or oil, and making sure that the motor is running well. But they never, ever pay attention to their heart."
Whether on the job or the treadmill, Conway understands the importance of going the extra mile to care for her heart.
Harold Winston
On July 4, 2002, Harold and Dorothy Winston of Fort Worth were vacationing at Lake Tahoe. As fireworks went off over the lake, their lives changed in a heartbeat.
Harold started feeling sick, and Dorothy called for an ambulance. At the hospital, doctors diagnosed a recurrence of an intestinal blockage and treated it. Then the real crisis began.
"Two or three nurses came racing into the room and said ‘Your heart rate is 100,'" he said. "I said, ‘No, I'm a runner. I'm an athlete. There's nothing wrong with my heart.'"
An EKG confirmed that Harold was experiencing an arrhythmic heartbeat. His heart would beat quickly for a few moments, and then go silent for several seconds. The condition is dangerous, and physicians at Lake Tahoe started talking about implanting a pacemaker.
"I said, ‘Whoa, if we're going to get that involved, I need to be back with my own doctor and my own hospital, which is Harris Methodist Fort Worth,'" he said.
Back in Fort Worth, Harold's cardiologist determined that a pacemaker wasn't the only possible treatment option. Instead, cardiologist Dr. Teddy Takata suggested that a high radiofrequency ablation of the renegade parts of the atrium could arrest the signals and restore a normal rhythm to Harold's heart.
Hours later, the procedure was completed and Harold awoke to see a normal EKG and smiles all around.
"I'm as active as ever," he said. "I swim. I ride my bike, and I don't wear a pacemaker. Fort Worth has many wonderful health facilities, but Harris Methodist certainly stands out at the top of that list."
Byron Yarborough
"Thinking back on it now, it actually happened the night before, and it felt like a rubber band had popped me in the neck. I felt the pain shoot down my back ... "
A human resource manager for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in Alliance, Neb., Byron Yarborough was in Fort Worth for a business meeting in February 2002. While sitting in a meeting, he started having chest pains and asked a co-worker, who also was unfamiliar with Fort Worth, to drive him to a hospital.
"I saw the cross and the Methodist hospital, and thought, ‘Well, I'm a Methodist, I was raised Methodist, my wife and I were married in a Methodist church ... it just made sense to go to a Methodist hospital.'"
In the Texas Health Fort Worth emergency room, doctors discovered that Yarborough had the largest aortic aneurysm they had ever seen. The aorta had ruptured and there was precious time available to try and repair it.
"I thought I was going to die, and felt really bad that I was going to leave my wife and kids without a husband and father," Yarbough said. Outside the operating room, nurses and Byron's co-workers held hands and formed a prayer circle. The surgery team then went to work, hoping to beat the odds.
"Only about 20 percent of the people we see will survive this disease process and operation," said Dr. Carlos Macias, a heart surgeon. "He's one of the lucky few."
A year after his cardiac crisis, Yarborough returned to Harris Methodist Fort Worth and visited with members of the medical team who saved his life.
"There are always others who are going face this kind of situation, and to have the technology and the medical expertise on hand to handle it is essential," Yarborough said. "But I'm probably even more grateful for the people who saw the human side of my situation and were there to give me some peace at the moment I needed it most."
