Joe Quercio
and
cardiologist
Michael
Williams,
M.D., look
at a CT
scan of
Joe’s heart.
only used by a few physicians in the Inland Northwest.
Using CT scans as a diagnostic tool is a fairly new con-
cept, but the technology is now fast enough to capture
the image of arteries and see blockages.
“I started the CT program at Kootenai about a year
ago,” Dr. Williams said. “I hope to use this technology
more in the future.”
The CT scan allowed for a faster diagnosis over
traditional methods. If Dr. Williams had decided to do
a treadmill test, Joe would have had to wait over 24
hours to see the results. By then, his heart attack could
have passed or his situation worsened. Instead, Dr. Wil-
liams was able to get results almost instantly and see
that one of Joe’s arteries was completely blocked.
“At that point Dr. Williams called the cath lab so it
would be ready, and they rushed me back for surgery,”
Joe said.
Joe’s surgery was successful, but not without its
challenges. Joe’s nurses explained to him that the
blockage in his arteries was hard to break, and at one
point in time he went into full cardiac arrest—an event
he actually remembers.
“When you’re on the table, you’re conscious and
mostly awake,” he recalled. “At one point I saw the
look on one of the nurse’s faces change, and everything
went quiet. I knew something was wrong. But just a
few seconds later, everything seemed normal again.”
In the days and weeks following his surgery, Joe
gradually began working his way back to his normal
activity levels. Looking back on his experience, Joe
said he feels lucky so much worked in his favor.
“Everyone said my lifestyle had a big impact on my
outcome,” Joe said. “That, coupled with the facts that
I recognized I was having heart problems, got to the
hospital on time, and was an ideal candidate for the
CT scan all helped save my life. The care I received
from everyone at Kootenai was amazing.”
Joe is currently training for the 2014 Ironman Coeur
d’Alene and expects to finish thanks to the care of
Dr. Williams and his team, proving anything is possible
with the right team and the heart of an Ironman.
T A K E H E A R T
Call the Heart Clinics Northwest office at
(208) 676-9913
or visit
KH.org/hcnw
to learn
about heart care services.
Photos
by Trevin
Spencer/
BHW1
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