by Mark David Hight, Hamilton
I have a great story to tell you!
Last Monday, August 19, I survived a significant medical event! An acute symptom, loss of control of my left arm, had me running to my neighbor who was the first to respond to my emergency. A few minutes later the staff at Bitterroot Health Urgent Care in Hamilton (about a half a mile away), did not waste a moment from our initial contact. The staff at Urgent Care proved to me that I was seeing and experiencing a “great team” in action, or you might say, “they didn’t skip a beat”! They literally “sprung” into action!
I was transported to Missoula expeditiously and taken to Providence St Patricks and from the moment we rolled out of the ambulance the gurney did not stop until I was in the room where the nurse/tech team were waiting for me. Within a span of less than 12 hours all the scans, cognitive test, drips, then surgery to unplug over half a foot of my right carotid artery (the rather ugly incision makes me “Markenstein,” ha ha).
Due to my initial quick response to the symptoms, a fine friend and neighbor to get me to Urgent Care, and to the entire staff of Providence St. Patrick’s Hospital/Missoula and in particular Dr. Michael Roher, who was wonderful, I am not only alive but three days post-op I have no side effects, and I feel great. I thought I knew what was going on when I got to Urgent Care, but I was the only one who “did not” know the gravity of the situation! I was in an extreme vulnerability zone and every minute was another minute that something bad could have happened.
I am a seventy-year-old male who had a good PT session earlier in the day of my medical event. My body has been through many surgeries and many hospitals. I am in relatively good shape and was caught unaware when this event happened last Monday. Please consider going on-line and spend a few minutes reviewing tell-tell signs of strokes and heart attacks. If you or anyone around you ever displays symptoms, know what to do! Saved me from something really bad if not death!
My thanks are not enough for the scores of professionals that took part in my episode. It was not just the expertise, the choreography, the technology, their intuitiveness, “their loving care.” I would like all of you readers to understand that I received the most compassionate care ever! I do not believe the care that I received from Urgent Care and St. Pats could be duplicated! I will never forget the hug I gave to my RN after she walked me to my waiting ride when I was discharged, and I hope that if and when the time comes that you, a loved one, or maybe just a bystander who needs assistance, you/they get what I got!
My eternal gratitude to all that cared for me, I will look for opportunities to pass it on!