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When Plainfield resident Cam Kennedy returned home from work on Feb. 5, 2015, he blamed an earlier workout for his fatigue and upper body stiffness. Immediate action ended up saving his life.
When Plainfield resident Cam Kennedy returned home from work on Feb. 5, 2015, he blamed an earlier workout for his fatigue and upper body stiffness.
“But when my jaw started to hurt, my wife said, ‘We’re going to the ER,’” the 58-year-old Kennedy said.
The couple went to nearby Edward Plainfield ER, where Kennedy was seen by emergency physician Edward Parker, who ordered an electrocardiogram and confirmed that Kennedy had experienced a heart attack.
The diagnosis set in motion a process that streamlined the time from the heart attack diagnosis at the Plainfield ER to the patient’s arrival at the cardiac cath lab at Edward Hospital in Naperville. The on-site ambulance crew was notified, as were the hospital’s cardiologists and the cath lab staff, who immediately prepped the lab for a procedure.
But as the paramedics were moving Kennedy from the ER bed to the transport gurney, he went into cardiopulmonary arrest.
One of the paramedics began CPR and an ER team administered the necessary drugs. Kennedy was resuscitated and transported to Edward Hospital for an angiogram.
Sharon Cline, an interventional cardiologist with DuPage Medical Group, performed a procedure that showed 100 percent blockage in one of Kennedy’s coronary arteries. She displaced the blockage by inserting a balloon-tipped catheter, inflating the balloon to move aside the plaque, and inserting a stent to help keep the artery open.
Kennedy’s heart attack was on Thursday, and he didn’t wake up until Saturday.
“The mental part of this whole experience was the hardest,” he said. “I’m an ex-athlete, and I’m the dad. I’m not supposed to be dying. It was embarrassing.
“I give a lot of credit to the paramedics and the teams at the Plainfield ER and Edward Hospital. I couldn’t be more grateful.”
A follow-up echocardiogram showed Kennedy had minimal heart damage.
“I’m now walking our 3-mile lake path with my wife and golfing three or four times a week without a cart,” he added.
Edward Hospital urges people who suspect they or a loved is having a heart attack to call 911 immediately.
“He was lucky his wife brought him in when she did,” Parker said. “Otherwise, he might not have made it.”
Symptoms of a heart attack may include chest pain, shortness of breath or lightheadedness, sweating, fatigue, or a pounding heart.
To find out if you’re at risk for heart disease, take Edward-Elmhurst Health’s free five-minute test at www.EEHealth.org/HealthAware.
For more information about Edward-Elmhurst Health cardiac care, visit www.EEHealth.org/Heart.