Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/242056
An amazing heart While jogging with his wife, Duane Stitt of Nixa started stumbling and then fell to the ground. "I rolled him over and realized he didn't have a pulse," says his wife, Amanda, who started CPR. "It was scary." Dr. David Zolfaghari, cardiothoracic surgeon, performed triple coronary bypass surgery to restore blood flow to Duane's heart. A neighbor, who is a highway patrolman, took over CPR compressions until first responders arrived. Soon a CoxHealth ambulance was on the scene. "They shocked him twice while we were on the side of the road," she says. "At some point they did get a heartbeat." After 15 days at Cox South, Duane went home and started cardiac rehab at Wheeler Heart and Vascular Center. She says Duane went at least 22 minutes without a heartbeat. He was taken to the Emergency and Trauma Center at Cox South. "When we got to the emergency room I was amazed at how quickly everything happened," she says. Therapeutic hypothermia protocol was started. Dr. Terrence Coulter, pulmonologist, explains that Duane's body temperature was cooled down to 33 degrees Celsius for a 24-hour period. "This slows the brain's metabolism and protects the brain against damage," says Dr. Coulter. Duane's body was slowly rewarmed to a normal body temperature. When he was alert, he was evaluated by Dr. Mark Anderson, cardiologist, who conducted an angiogram to view the blood vessels in Duane's heart. It was determined that Duane had coronary artery disease. 8 Both Dr. Coulter and Dr. Zolfaghari say Duane's recovery was amazing. "He received care I can't even describe. It was amazing care," says Amanda. "I can't imagine being cared for anywhere else." "Everyone who treated me did an exceptional job," says Duane of his experience at CoxHealth. "Today I am doing nearly everything I did before – mowing the yard, running again and shoveling gravel." "It's amazing that he is back at this point, when he really shouldn't have survived that night," says Amanda. "It's totally related to the care he received."