John and Charylene Taylor at Kirby Cardiac Rehab
My husband, John, and I are very thankful this year for our "heart health" and Kirby Medical Center’s cardiac rehab sessions. We are both survivors of heart issues.
You might say I became a patient at Kirby when I was born on November 18, 1941, in the John and Mary Kirby Hospital in Monticello. The hospital had opened that year on January 20 in an old mansion. Through the years, we've had various tests, X-rays, mammograms, etc. at Kirby Hospital.
We live in Monticello, and on Sunday, October 2, 2005, around 2 a.m. my husband, John, was pacing the floor with what he called severe indigestion. After a couple hours, the pain started moving up to his left shoulder. I rushed him out to Kirby’s ER on State Street. When I went through the sliding doors of the ER, I was met by Jay Lamb, a physician’s assistant who was there that morning. He got my husband into an ER room, ran tests, EKG, blood work, etc. and said it was a heart attack. Jay quickly had a Kirby ambulance arrive, which transported John to Decatur Memorial Hospital, where he was taken to the catheterization lab. He had 100% blockage in a heart artery and had a stent placed in it by Dr. John Waters. John was taken to the cardiac unit, and it was touch and go for the next few days. A second stent was placed in December, and he took Cardiac Rehab Phase II there at Decatur Memorial. Then he eventually returned to work at Caterpillar.
Our sincere thanks to Jay Lamb for being there for John at Kirby’s ER that morning. Jay got John stabilized and transported to Decatur quickly enough to save his life from a massive heart attack. Jay Lamb is now with the Kirby Medical Group, seeing patients including my husband, John.
In August of 2008, I suddenly had a hard time breathing, and John took me to Kirby’s ER. Tests were run, and the doctor could not find anything wrong. Later in November, after the catheterization lab at Decatur Memorial Hospital showed a 100% blockage, I underwent triple bypass surgery on November 19, 2008. In January of 2009, I started Phase II Cardiac Rehab at Kirby on State Street, under the watchful eye of Heidi Grieser, who is in charge of cardiac rehabilitation there at Kirby. Later, I signed up for Phase III Cardiac Rehab, which Kirby offers those who wish to continue heart healthy exercise.
When Kirby Medical Center opened, we moved to their new therapy room, where I have continued rehab. My husband retired January 1, 2015, from Caterpillar and joined me at Kirby’s rehab at that time. So three mornings every week we go out for cardiac rehab for an hour of exercise and blood pressure and heart rate checks. We are the early birds, along with a few others who arrive at 6 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
We have also gotten acquainted with Duane Schlabach, the specialist who fills in for Heidi when she can’t be there. We have met several other patients with whom we have been able to share our "heart" stories. We learn a lot from each other and have some fun times, too, together. The new therapy room has windows to the north, through which we can look out while exercising. Kirby now has a new Wellness Trail, which runs just north of the hospital. It’s fun to watch others out there while we are on the inside.
Kirby is a wonderful facility, and the entire community and surrounding areas are very fortunate to have medical care so close to home. We have less than a mile to drive out to the hospital.
I feel our quality of life is much better due to the weekly exercise and am sure it has extended our lives.
So much to be thankful for this year!
Charylene Taylor
https://www.imakenews.com/kirbymedicalcenter/e_article003263942.cfm?x=b11,0,w
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