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Celebrate Excellent Care

Beebe bonds of faith and trust - wrapped all around us

August 2, 2017

Peter Issel's story started very suddenly, "It was a day in early April when I got very short of breath and had some pain in my upper chest. Like many people, I thought it was acid reflux, and I went to the pharmacy and got an antacid. A little later, while I was walking the dog, I had tightness in my chest to the point I had to immediately sit down. It finally got so bad that I went into the house and sat on the side of the bed, and said, 'Diane, I think I'm having a heart attack. Call 911.'

"The EMS came quickly and had me chew a baby aspirin right away. They took me to Beebe where I was immediately greeted and tended to by the people in the Emergency Department. They knew I was having a heart attack, gave me oxygen and took me directly to the Cardiac Cath Lab. That's where I met Dr. El-Sabbagh. My heart was functioning at only a percentage of where it should have been functioning. Dr. El-Sabbagh inserted a balloon pump up the artery in my leg and restored the blood flow to my heart."

Peter's wife, Diane, braced herself for the worst, "A nurse called me over while they were wheeling Peter out of the Cardiac Cath Lab. I knew I was in trouble because she was holding a box of tissues. Dr. El-Sabbagh said to me, 'Why don't we go upstairs and have a talk?' He didn't sugar coat anything. He told me that Peter's heart was too weak to operate now, and the balloon had to do its work to help his heart to get stronger before they could operate."

Peter was transported to the Intensive Care Unit. While there he had an endoscopy performed to locate and treat five bleeding ulcers. During the endoscopy, Peter aspirated into his lungs which caused him to develop a fever and pneumonia. Developing pneumonia, in Peter's weakened condition, was very serious. It could have killed him. The pneumonia had to be alleviated before surgeons could operate on his heart.

"It was extraordinary to watch them taking care of you," Diane said to Peter, tears welling up in her eyes. "Your room, in less than five minutes, was totally transformed with new equipment to treat your pneumonia. They were all so wonderful and kind to me. I was right there with you and they made me feel like it was OK for me to be there. I stayed by your side while they were trying to keep you alive. They had to get rid of that pneumonia, which they did, pretty quickly.

"The thing that I found amazing is how they don't mess around. When Peter started to come around, that's when Dr. M.L. Ray Kuretu, cardiac surgeon, said to me, 'Diane, we've got to do this now.' Brian McCarthy, cardiac physician assistant, was always telling me and Peter, 'We're going to do this, one step at a time.' The minute Peter was ready, Dr. Kuretu, Brian and Dr. Michael Ingerski, the anesthesiologist who kept Peter going for 10-and-a-half hours, all went to work. Dr. Kuretu performed three bypasses and gave Peter a new aortic valve."

Diane shared how very hard it was to be in the waiting room for more than 10 hours. "I was working on a puzzle to keep my mind occupied, and all of a sudden I looked up and Brian McCarthy was there and said, 'I'm here to tell you we are halfway through and Peter's doing fine.' I never, ever thought that Peter wasn't going to make it. I didn't allow myself to think anything but the best. Everyone who helped with the surgery and everyone who was a part of Peter's care after the surgery, they were all incredible." When Peter came out of surgery, he returned to the Intensive Care Unit.

"All of the nurses on the ICU have such a great spirit," Peter said. "There is a very upbeat feeling in the group. They all made me feel like I wanted to get better. They were always hanging out with me, probably because I truly appreciated everything they were doing to care for me. We had fun talking and learning about each other's interests. Many of the nurses have worked in the ICU for years and they tolerate a lot. It must be very hard caring for really sick people, but they maintain their spirit and their smiles, and they are so genuine. It can be intense, but I could really see how much they truly love what they do.

"The physical therapy team was terrific, too. Initially, they had to convince me that I was ready to walk down the hall to take a shower. I'll never forget that. I asked, 'Why is my room so far away from the shower?' The first day I walked down and they brought me back to my room in a wheelchair. The next day I walked back and forth on my own. That was the day I first truly believed that I was going to make it home.

"When I was discharged, Beebe Home Care Services assigned me a nurse, an occupational therapist, and a physical therapist. Three days after I got home, they brought this machine to the house that monitored my weight, my blood pressure, and my pulse - all wirelessly from my home. It's called Telemedicine, and all of my vital signs were being monitored. We would get a call right away if something wasn't right with my vitals. When my blood pressure got a little low, the nurse contacted the doctor right away and changed my medication. The communication between everyone monitoring me from home was incredible.

"Debbie Sheing is a good friend of ours and she was also my physical therapist. I remember the day she walked in the back door and said, ‘We're not friends now, Peter - I am here to get you moving. This is real business; it isn't friendship.’ Debbie got me going up the stairs. She was great. They were all great. They were right on top of everything and it was amazing."

Peter is still being cared for. "I had my first cardiac rehab appointment today at the Beebe Health Campus near Rehoboth. I'm doing the traditional cardiac rehab three times a week. I'm monitored very carefully the whole time I am doing my exercises. I do a number of different machines and they monitor my heart on each one and ask me how the exercise went. I've also met a couple of people there who are continuing to use the cardiac rehab facilities three times a week because that equipment is specifically suited to strengthening the heart."

There was a pause in our conversation, and I noticed Diane looking very reflective about the whole experience. Peter said, "Diane is the one who lived through this. I was asleep most of the time."

Diane took a deep breath and said, "I did not cry - not once. The more you think about it and the more we talk about it, it is stunning. I will never forget how everyone at Beebe became part of our family. They were all so kind to me every time that I walked in. There was so much faith and trust built between me and Peter and everyone who cared for us. It started with Dr. El-Sabbagh, then continued with Brian McCarthy and Dr. Kuretu. In the very beginning, I remember Brian told us we could go to Christiana if we wanted to, but Dr. Kuretu actually trained some of the cardiac surgeons working at Christiana. Dr. Kuretu also saved the life of a good friend of ours, Jeffrey Heckert; Jeff is Peter's primary care physician. I spoke with Jeffrey several times and he told me, 'Diane, Peter is in very good hands, do not worry.'"

Peter summed it up, "This was a very powerful thing - our experience at Beebe. The relationships we built with all of the people who cared for us in the time that led up to, and then after, my surgery, were incredible. It was like family. I don't know if I would have received the same kind of care in another hospital. I could have been just another number somewhere else. You can't help but believe when you have such strong bonds of faith and trust that everyone is going to give you the best possible care. That's what made our experience at Beebe so special."

Peter and Diane Issel are making a gift to the Beebe Medical Foundation to support Beebe's Heart and Vascular Center of Excellence and to celebrate the Beebe team members who provided Peter's care. As a community-owned, not-for-profit healthcare system, Beebe continues to depend on the generous support of individuals, corporations, businesses, and private foundations. All gifts, large or small, to Beebe Healthcare, are tax deductible and are channeled through Beebe Medical Foundation. Please consider making a gift today and share your amazing stories with our community. To make your proud personal donation or to learn more about Celebrate Excellent Care, go online to www.beebemedicalfoundation.org or contact the Beebe Medical Foundation at 302-644-2900 or write to foundation@beebehealthcare.org.

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