Vim & Vigor - Winter 2019 - CH - 53

Kimble's father had suffered from
the same condition, and there was
no treatment available at that time.
By the time Kimble came into
St. Mary Medical Center with CTO,
however, the hospital had the advanced
technology necessary for interventional
cardiologists to perform a high-risk
percutaneous coronary intervention
(PCI). The PCI procedure allows surgeons to penetrate calcified occlusions
like Kimble's and use advanced balloons
and other tools to open the arteries
and restore blood flow.
"We have very aggressive wires, like
spears," Safadi says. "You use these
very carefully, but that is the only thing
that will cross 100 percent of the blockage. We have advanced balloons and
other techniques to use that make this
procedure the best option."
For this complex procedure,
Safadi teamed with cardiologist
Kais Yehyawi, MD, to open Kimble's
occluded arteries and restore blood
flow to his weakened heart. Yehyawi
said Kimble was enthusiastic about
moving forward with the PCI.
"It's always a good thing to see a
patient who is ready and willing after
having all of the options explained to
them," Yehyawi says.
Patients in the Catheterization Lab
are often awake during at least part of
their procedure but are kept comfortable with anesthesia. Kimble described
the experience of seeing Yehyawi and
Safadi working intently, one on each side
of him, as "intense."
"The times I was able to remember
what they were doing, it was just like an
orchestra," Kimble recalls. "Both of them
were constantly talking to one another.
The whole team was communicating and
reacting to everything. It was awesome
to hear how they worked together to
fix everything."

"It's rather intense from our side too,"
Safadi says. "We worked together very
closely for about three hours. This is
a team approach with Dr. Yehyawi and
the whole cath lab team: the nurses, the
technologists, the pre-op nurses, the
post-op care; we all work together as a
team for the patient's best care."
Yehyawi credited the expertise of
his colleagues, the Catheterization Lab
team and St. Mary Medical Center for
its continued investment in the latest
cardiovascular treatments and technologies for making successful procedures
like Kimble's possible.
"St. Mary Medical Center has really
pushed us forward by bringing in new
technology to Northwest Indiana,"
Yehyawi says. "Today, as physicians, we
work in an excellent environment to

WEBSITE

Help for Hearts
For more information on the
Advanced Heart & Vascular
Institute at the hospitals of
Community Healthcare System,
visit COMHS.org/heart.

provide excellence in patient care."
Kimble says his quality of life has
improved significantly after the PCI. His
energy level has rebounded, his breathing has improved and his chest pains
are gone.
"I want to thank Dr. Yehyawi and Dr.
Safadi for saving my life," he says. "It was
definitely an experience I won't forget." ■

At St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, Gary Kimble was the guest of honor to light the Hearts
of Hope tree, a fundraiser for cardiovascular research.

WINTE R 2019

http://www.COMHS.org/heart

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2019 - CH

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