Program helps patient recover from heart disease

It’s one thing to be overweight and inactive, with a family history of heart disease, and experience sudden chest pains. Most people in that situation would know that a trip to the doctor is in order.

It’s another thing to be fit and highly active, with no family history of heart disease whatsoever, and experience chest pains. Chances are you might just shrug them off and hope they go away.

That’s exactly what Frank Odegard of Albany did, until the pain got too bad to ignore.

Odegard, who does not have any known family history of heart disease and loves physical activity of all kinds, had been trying to ignore chest pains after a game of baseball. Finally, he bent down to tie his shoes and the pain exploded.

“I decided, ‘enough of this, I’m calling my doctor,’” he said.

Odegard’s doctor told him to go to the emergency room at Samaritan Albany General Hospital (SAGH) immediately. The hospital staff kept him overnight for stress tests and decided to transfer him to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis when test results showed that his heart was in serious trouble.

Odegard underwent a cardiac catheterization, a diagnostic test that involves a long, thin tube being placed in a patient’s artery and guided toward the heart. The procedure revealed he had one artery completely blocked and three others badly clogged. He was on the verge of having a heart attack.

“I was very surprised,” Odegard said. “I didn’t expect that news at all.”

Cardiologist Timothy Atha, a member of the Samaritan Heart & Vascular Institute at Good Samaritan, determined that Odegard was not a candidate for stents or an angioplasty and recommended he have a quadruple bypass to clear all four arteries.

Cardiovascular surgeon Rodrigo Oyarzun performed the surgery soon after and Odegard, a grandfather of six, was saved from having a heart attack.

Odegard’s story doesn’t end there, however. While the surgery prevented a heart attack, the surgeons counseled him to join a cardiac rehabilitation program, explaining that it would help him rebuild his heart’s strength and help prevent the need for another surgery in the future. Fortunately, the Albany hospital has a cardiac rehab program, meaning that Odegard could stay in Albany for his sessions. He joined exactly one month after having the surgery.

“I decided it was the right thing to do for my long-term health,” Odegard said. “It’s only 15 minutes away from my house. The people there are excellent and highly qualified.”

Samaritan’s cardiac rehab programs, located at Good Samaritan and Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital in addition to SAGH, offer safe, structured exercise guided by expert staff. Dietary counseling, close blood pressure monitoring and several other components are also included. Both recent heart surgery patients and people who simply want to improve their cardiovascular health participate in the programs.

Odegard recognizes the importance of cardiac rehab. Before the surgery, he was an active person who took cardiovascular health for granted. Now cardiac rehab keeps him more active than ever, and he’s tuned into his body’s most vital organ.

“I’ve had a very good experience,” he said of the SAGH program, “and I plan to continue going even after my insurance won’t cover it any more.”

To learn more about Samaritan Heart & Vascular Institute and Samaritan’s cardiac rehab programs, visit www.samhealth.org/shvi.