Kootenai | Kootenai Health | Issue 2, 2020

6 By Andrea Nagel Many ailments come on gradually, showing symptoms like aches or fever, giving us time to fully realize we’re ill. However, there are some that can strike quickly, without warning. This is what happened to Bill Watt in 2015 when he experienced a pulmonary embolism that sent him to the emergency department. “We had just moved to the Coeur d’Alene area and were working on some home projects,” he recalled. “I was making a Home Depot run one afternoon and felt a After surviving a pulmonary embolism, Bill Watt now volunteers with Kootenai’s Patient Family Advisory Council stabbing sensation in my chest—I couldn’t breathe. I felt like a fish out of water; I was gasping for air but couldn’t catch my breath.” Bill ended up coming to Kootenai Health’s emergency department, where he was examined by Travis Newby, M.D. Dr. Newby discovered Bill had a pulmonary embolism—a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in the lungs. Bill’s pulmonary embolism was caused by a clot in his leg that broke loose and moved into his lungs. “Everybody was very compassionate. They were able to break up the clot with heparin injections, and then I stayed for a couple of days for monitoring and recovery,” Bill said. “My nurse, Roxanne, was fantastic. She could tell I had questions about what happened, she provided several resources for me to learn about it and answered a lot of my questions.” WHOHELPEDME HelpingThose