Heart Hospital - Waco Kim Giles: On a Friday night in March 2018, as my husband and I were driving across Waco with 20 camper in tow, he complained of his elbow "going numb" and "feeling winded." With a history of heart disease in his family, I wasted no time in having him pull over in a large parking lot, where I proceeded to unhook our camper and fly him across town in 4 minutes flat to Providences ER. I told the desk clerk he was having chest pain, she immediately handed him a clipboard to get his basic info, he was called back within 90 seconds and after having hooking him up to an EKG machine, the nurse knew what was coming and rushed him into a cardiac crash room within 90 seconds. As I stood in the corner of the crash room watching him answer two of their questions, he went out...as in no response. His heart had stopped. They were on him within seconds when a massive "widowmaker" heart attack hit with CPR, defibrillator shocks (9 total as I later learned) and loads of medicine, equipment and cardiac pros. I left the room to make room for others, and waited 35 agonizing minutes before they told me they were able to get his pulse back. He was rushed to the Cath Lab, where two stents were implanted almost immediately, he was then placed in ICU for 36 hours, and two days later, he walked out of the hospital on his own power--sore, but alive. He was a miracle as he exhibited none of the indicators usually seen with massive heart attacks (i.e., obese, unhealthy, poor eater, other diseases, etc...he had none of that), the ER staff did exactly what I knew they were trained to do when we arrived, and every single person we encountered during our stay was incredible. They truly cared about my husband and I, as tales of his "big adventure" of surviving what is usually not survivable made the rounds among staff. They cheered him on throughout our stay, encouraged him as he recovered, and have contacted us several times since just to check on "the miracle man". THATS excellent service, and I cant say enough about how very grateful I am that Providence Health Centers professionals literally saved my husbands life. He is truly a miracle, hes doing very well today, and we owe that to the superb service we received from the Providence crew!
