Tom Custer and his wife Laine, of rural Jefferson, are no strangers to healthcare. Tom spent nearly all his working career as a pharmacist and Laine served patients locally as a registered nurse. However, an early morning incident in mid-July was an eye-opening experience that has led to long-term changes for the Custer family.
Tom woke up around 1 am on that morning with pain in his upper chest. He had suffered from heartburn in the past, and was usually able to relieve it with antacids. “The pain didn’t go away,” Tom said, “and I had some pain in my arms.”
The couple decided it was time to go to the emergency room at Greene County Medical Center. Even though medication had knocked down the pain, the provider kept him overnight for additional testing. “The lab tests they ran indicated I was having heart problems,” Tom said. “They started me on some medications and transferred me to Des Moines. I had a heart catheterization on Monday morning and they put a stent in one coronary artery and ballooned another one, thinking they would stent the ballooned artery later.”
When it was time for Tom to return home, arrangements were made for him to go to the Cardiac Rehabilitation department at Greene County Medical Center. He met with Kelli Farley, RN, and Certified Exercise Physiologist Emily Ostrander and put on therapy sessions three days per week. Baseline vital signs were established in the first session and he continued with an exercise regimen to strengthen his heart.
Healthcare providers told Tom to be aware of any chest pain and to get to an emergency room if it recurred. He admits he was nervous and conscious of even the mildest of symptoms. “I didn’t recognize a specific pain that occurred when I had the initial heart pain that I could think, ‘oh, this is my heart and I need to go to the ER.’ After I started rehab, I told Kelli and Emily that I was having symptoms and wondered if they were caused by my heart.” After checking his vitals, Tom was told there were no changes and that it is not at all unusual for people to be apprehensive and nervous after a heart intervention. “As time went on and medications were changed, I became less anxious,” he said.
He and Laine also worked with Greene County Medical Center dietitian Erica Vandenberg on heart healthy changes for his diet. “She really listened,” said Tom. “She wasn’t trying to tell me to change everything. We discussed options and now I have a combination of medications, diet and exercise in place.”
Armed with the information on where his heart rate should be at rest and during exercise and what food choices are best for his heart health, Tom said he is thankful that Greene County Medical Center is a part of this community; and he is grateful for the employees that make it an exceptional healthcare organization. “I have worked in hospitals in the past,” he explained. “And, as an employee, I enjoyed having nice surroundings and equipment. As a patient, I also wanted these things. But when it comes down to it, it is the employees that make the hospitals the caring places they are. Emily and Kelli were a good source of information and compassion for me in the Cardiac Rehab department. Dietary and the ER department personnel performed with great care and professionalism. Thank you, all.”
