Spring 2023 5 Help for a heart attack Mike Freeman, 59, had finished shoveling heavy snow one February morning when his left arm began to ache. “I was going to go by a friend’s house and help him work on a car,” he says. “But I just felt like I broke my arm in three or four different places.” Then Freeman started to sweat. After taking an aspirin, he passed out. Mike’s fiancée, Hillary, called 911 and, when his heart stopped, started CPR until paramedics arrived. Arriving at Riverside’s ED, Freeman was whisked away to the cardiac catheterization area, or cath lab, where specialists opened blocked arteries in his heart. Doctors also cooled his body (therapeutic hypothermia treatment) to help prevent brain damage after his cardiac arrest. After a weeklong hospital stay, Freeman returned to Riverside for cardiac rehabilitation therapy. He’s currently restoring a 1967 Mustang and enjoying life with Hillary and their baby daughter, born after his heart attack. The couple thanked everyone involved in their care, including cardiologist Tarun Jain, MD, FACC, and the Bourbonnais Fire Department paramedics who rushed Freeman to Riverside, restarting his heart three times along the way. “They were all outstanding,” he says. “They didn’t give up on me.” Roadside assistance Kentuckians Matthew and Shayna Stallings were on their way home from a family vacation when an Illinois State Police officer pulled them over on Highway 41. The reason? Matthew’s driving had become erratic. As the officer approached the car, Matthew realized he couldn’t move his left hand or leg. He turned to his wife, Shayna. “She said, ‘Your face is drooping,’” Matthew recalls. He arrived by ambulance at Riverside’s ED, where neurosurgeon Jehad Zakaria, MD, knew what to do. Matthew had had a massive brain bleed (hemorrhagic) stroke. Dr. Zakaria performed lifesaving brain surgery to stop the hemorrhage and relieve pressure from the bleed. Matthew underwent follow-up brain shunt surgery at Riverside, to remove excess fluid from his brain, and received a mesh plate in his skull. After being hospitalized at Riverside for nearly a month, Matthew returned to Kentucky to continue his recovery. Among his goals: to play the guitar again. “I would have died if I hadn’t had my stroke near Kankakee,” he says. “I’m very thankful.” Stories from the ER Riverside’s emergency department is always at the ready. Just ask two of our patients:
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