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Patient Success Stories

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Heart & Vascular
  • Advanced Heart Failure Management Center
  • Arrhythmia Center
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  • Cardiology
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Hear From Our Patients

To learn more about specific patient experiences, begin by clicking on the service you are interested in.

Advanced Heart Failure

Kenny Moore

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Kenny Moore’s progressing heart failure was leading to failing health. An implanted mechanical heart pump allowed him to become more active yet keep his own heart.

Kenny's Story

Arrhythmia

Shareen Cox

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A few years after retiring, Shareen began having frequent occurrences of feeling tired and not being able to catch her breath.

SHAREEN'S STORY

Eric Kirchner

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As an Air Force pilot and now commercial aviation pilot, Eric Kirchner needs to be healthy, alert and ready to fly people around the globe.

ERIC'S STORY

Matt Richard

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The drama started on a Thursday morning for Matt and Krissy Richard. When Matt walked downstairs, Krissy quickly realized something was very wrong.

MATT'S STORY

Marianne Long

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“I was having trouble breathing and I felt tired and weak,” Marianne says. “I had to push myself to do things, even simple, everyday things.”

MARIANNE'S STORY

Kendall High

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One day severe pain in her calf sent Kendall to an ER. That’s when she heard three words she never expected: “It’s your heart.”

KENDALL'S STORY

Norma Benson

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At age 79, Norma Benson was living an active life. But sudden, severe dizzy spells attacked out of nowhere and stopped her in her tracks.

NORMA'S STORY

Marlene Patrick

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Marlene thought her heart problems were insurmountable. “I had terrible tiredness. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t even eat.”

MARLENE'S STORY

Bill Thomason

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A round of golf, a game of cards and the chance to enjoy life were top of mind for Bill when doctors told him he needed a pacemaker.

BILL'S STORY

Jackie Brantley

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A healthy former athlete, Jackie was a hard-driving type-A business executive when everything in his world came to an abrupt halt.

JACKIE'S STORY

Cardiology

Linda Schwartz

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At 74 years old, Linda Schwartz believes staying healthy should be a top priority. She also understands that to achieve that, she must maintain a good relationship with her doctors and have regular health screenings.

LINDA'S STORY

Jeff Carr

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“There was no warning, no nothing,” Karen Carr recalls of the December evening her husband’s heart stopped beating. Jeff Carr, a tall, lean construction worker at age 52, felt uncomfortable on the couch and decided to go upstairs to lie down. 

JEFF'S STORY

Dennis Dalton

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At 43 years old, Dennis Dalton doesn’t let much slow him down - not even a heart attack.

Dennis' Story

Philip Dietz

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When he was having the classic heart attack symptoms - he ignored them. At only 39, Phil felt it was too early to start worrying about a heart attack, even though he has a history of heart disease in his family.

Philip's Story

Karen Lugo

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The pressure between her shoulder blades would not let up.

And when Karen, who is always cold, started sweating, her son called 911.

KAREN'S STORY

Glenna Maxwell

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On the night before her 40th birthday bash, Glenna learned that she was lucky to be alive; she had a heart defect and it needed to be repaired right away.

GLENNA'S STORY

James McNutt

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As he mowed his lawn in Independence, Kentucky, James felt chest pain. At first, he thought it was indigestion from hot dogs he ate for lunch, but the pain grew unbearable. He started to sweat, and a dip in the pool and a cold shower didn’t cool him down.

JAMES' STORY

Ray Webster

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Ray collapsed from a heart attack on the way to his car after finishing a 12-hour shift as a forklift driver.

RAY'S STORY

Clinical Research

Terry Arlinghaus

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Terry Arlinghaus’ doctor told him he was a walking time bomb. And he didn't even know it.

TERRY'S STORY

Heart & Lung Surgery

Kathy Shepherd

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When Kathy Shepherd learned her heart was in trouble, her first reaction was disbelief.

KATHY'S STORY

Susan Cox

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Susan Cox did the unthinkable—she drove herself to the hospital, even though she thought she could be having a heart attack.

SUSAN'S STORY

Mary Hoffmeister

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One night, as Mary Hoffmeister was getting ready for bed, she took off her socks and saw something that caught her completely off guard. 

MARY'S STORY

Ralph Bamberger

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Ralph was getting ready to head upstairs to bed after an active day when he called upstairs to his wife to say he was really not feeling well, and that he was calling 911. Then he collapsed.

RALPH'S STORY

Jeff Bolte

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Jeff matter-of-factly shared his health history – cardiac issues are a family problem – until he described the doctors and the nurses who cared for him. Then, he ramped it up.

“Incredible,” Jeff said emphatically.

JEFF'S STORY

Melissa Jennings

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On September 25, Melissa had an angiogram and found out that her bypass from 20 years ago was failing.

She cried.

MELISSA'S STORY

Joe Koester

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Joe lived with a heart murmur for 40 years because he was born with a heart defect.

JOE'S STORY

Prevention & Wellness

Mike Adams

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With a long history of driving a dump truck and farming on the side, Mike Adams knows the meaning of hard work. That’s why he became worried at age 46 when he was too weak to change a tire on his truck – something his 12-year-old son did with no problem.

Mike's Story

Jessica Brungs

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Taking that first step to quit smoking is the hardest part for many people. For St. Elizabeth Healthcare Nurse Jessica Brungs, it was a step she knew that she needed to take – and the Freshstart Smoking Cessation program was just the thing to help her take it.

JESSICA'S STORY

Teresa Cecil

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Like many smokers, Teresa got hooked early in life. She smoked her first cigarette at age 12, back when it was the “cool” thing to do. Today, she is smoke free, and she will tell you it’s not easy. “You have to work your way through the bad stuff,” says Teresa. “Keep your eye on the prize. It gets better.”

TERESA'S STORY

Bev & Hugh Dayton

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Weight down. Cholesterol levels down. Cardiac ages improved by more than a decade.

Those are the health benefits Hugh and Bev Dayton credit to St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s “Take Time for Your Heart Class.”

BEV & HUGH'S STORY

Denise Fetters

Denise participated in two Freshstart classes and had her last cigarette the day before her second heart attack. She plans on attending another session, she says, and adds: “I’m going to be a spokesperson for them.”

DENISE'S STORY

Jan Keller

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A diabetic, Jan cut her triglycerides by half and her husband lost 13 pounds when she put into practice everything she learned at St. Elizabeth Healthcare’s 10-week course, “Take Time for Your Heart.”

JAN'S STORY

Dave Klaber

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It was a hot, Saturday afternoon in August as Dave, a volunteer firefighter, drove swiftly to a Pendleton County farm where hundreds of hay bales had caught fire. As he began filling a water truck to take into the fields, he felt a sharp pain between his shoulder blades.

DAVE'S STORY

Bob Knox

Bob Knox hadn’t smoked a cigarette for more than eight years. But in April 2015, a phone call telling him that his beloved older brother had died suddenly pushed him to seek out the comfort of a cigarette.

Bob's Story

Karen Lugo

Karen_Lugo_resized_for_web_7-27-2015

The pressure between her shoulder blades would not let up.

And when Karen, who is always cold, started sweating, her son called 911.

KAREN'S STORY

Jackie Newton

Jackie_Newton_resized_for_web_7-16-2015

Jackie, a two-time cancer survivor, keeps her weight in check and works out regularly. But at age 78, she figured there was still more she could do. St. Elizabeth's “Take Time for Your Heart” class was just the ticket.

JACKIE'S STORY

Ray Webster

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Ray collapsed from a heart attack on the way to his car after finishing a 12-hour shift as a forklift driver.

RAY'S STORY

Valve Center

Susan Stahl

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As Susan Stahl woke up from hernia repair surgery last February – just before the coronavirus escalated – she had a strange feeling. And it wasn’t just her anesthesia wearing off.

“I felt like I had a big cement block on my chest,” remembers Susan. “It really hurt.”

Susan's Story

Ruby Denny

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Ruby Denny will never forget what happened to her one night in early March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic escalated. She was lying in bed, ready to fall asleep, and suddenly, she had a horrible feeling in her chest.

RUBY'S STORY

Raymond Scheller

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One day, 87-year-old Raymond Scheller realized that he could not walk to his own mailbox in Villa Hills without panting and running out of breath. After his TAVR procedure he was out of the hospital in two days and is back to enjoying life.

RAYMOND'S STORY

Vicki Rankin

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Vicki was having trouble breathing. She thought it was asthma, but her primary care physician wasn't so sure.

VICKI'S STORY

Vascular

Bob Mohalski

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When he woke up in the middle of the night with a racing heart, Bob thought he was having an asthma attack.

BOB'S STORY

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© 2021 St. Elizabeth Healthcare. All rights reserved. St. Elizabeth Healthcare is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation serving the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region. Tax identification #610445850