When Rick Edmund conquered the hike up a butte in South Dakota\u2019s Custer State Park with his granddaughter last year, he had a big smile on his face and offered a huge shoutout.<\/p>\n
Rick, 75, pastor at Chapman Quarries United Methodist Church in Bath, recorded thank you videos to Steven Stevens, MD, FHRS, and James Gallagher, MD, of St. Luke\u2019s Cardiology Associates.<\/p>\n
If not for the extraordinary cardiovascular care that has led to St. Luke\u2019s being ranked among the leading heart and vascular centers in the nation, Rick may have never made that climb in Custer State Park\u00a0 \u2013 or any of the other climbs \u2013 as he and granddaughter Elisabeth trekked through North and South Dakota, visiting several national parks.<\/p>\n
Rick was trying to live with persistent atrial fibrillation (AFIB) that was robbing him of his active lifestyle last year. Before that, he had been an active hiker, walker and had been working out at two gyms, but those activities went by the wayside as he had trouble catching his breath while struggling to climb the church steps.<\/p>\n
He knew he had lifelong blood pressure issues \u2013 for which he was on medication \u2013 but nothing prepared him for the struggle to breathe during activity that started last spring.<\/p>\n
When he told his primary care physician of his struggles, she referred him to Dr. Gallagher, who examined Rick and referred him to Dr. Stevens, the director of\u00a0Cardiac Electrophysiology-Device and Ambulatory Service Lines for St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network for an ablation.<\/p>\n
An ablation is used to correct the electrical signals that cause the heart to go into AFIB or other heart arrhythmias. The electrophysiologist will run the catheter to the heart from veins in a patient\u2019s leg.<\/p>\n
“Mapping” is done when a 3D model of the heart is generated from those catheters and locates the abnormal electrical activity that is triggering the arrhythmias.<\/p>\n
“Mapping is GPS for the heart.” Says Dr Stevens. For AFIB, the most common culprit area is from the pulmonary veins, and the procedure is called pulmonary vein isolation. The catheter tip then heats up or freezes to create a small amount of scar tissue and stops that area from firing inappropriately, allowing the heart\u2019s electrical system to work properly again.<\/p>\n
\u201cRick is a really good guy and very interesting,\u201d Dr. Stevens said. \u201cHe had persistent AFIB, which means he was in it all the time. He was symptomatic and it affected his lifestyle.\u00a0He’s\u00a0a pastor, he hikes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick went back into AFIB three days after the ablation, and Dr. Stevens knew something else had to be done, as it is relatively common for AFIB to recur transiently early after an ablation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a cardioversion for Rick,\u201d Dr. Stevens said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0like a reset for the for the heart, not a cure for AFIB.\u201d Cardioversion uses external electrodes to send mild shocks to the heart and return it to a normal rhythm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ablation fixed the arrhythmia, the cardioversion just reset the heart,\u201d Dr. Stevens said. \u201cThis wasn\u2019t unexpected or a complication. If we didn\u2019t do the ablation, just the cardioversion, the heart couldn\u2019t hold the normal rhythm like it does now and he would be going back into AFIB.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI recovered from that one right away,\u201d Rick said. \u201cI came out of it and have felt pretty good ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rick has been hiking every week since, heading frequently to Jacobsburg Park. He is very much enjoying being active again.\u00a0He’s\u00a0especially proud of his performance on a stairclimbing machine, chalking up 180 flights in 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe World Trade Center was 110 flights,\u201d Rick chimed. \u201cMake sure Dr. Stevens and Dr. Gallagher know I did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like to thank Dr. Gallagher for referring Rick to me,\u201d Dr. Stevens said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it was really striking to see Rick\u2019s video, to see him smile and thank me and Dr. Gallagher.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0touching that he was even thinking of us when he climbed that mountain. It is gratifying that we helped restore his quality of life, activity, and happiness. It really does take a village to heal a patient.\u201d<\/p>\n
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About St. Luke\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n Founded in 1872,\u00a0St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(SLUHN) is a fully integrated, regional, non-profit network of more than 20,000 employees providing services at 15 campuses and 300+ outpatient sites.\u00a0 With annual net revenue of $3.4 billion, the Network\u2019s service area includes 11 counties in two states: Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Montgomery, Monroe, Schuylkill and Luzerne counties in Pennsylvania and Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey. St. Luke\u2019s hospitals operate the largest network of trauma centers in Pennsylvania, with the Bethlehem Campus being home to St. Luke\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n Dedicated to advancing medical education, St. Luke\u2019s is the preeminent teaching hospital in central-eastern Pennsylvania.\u00a0 In partnership with Temple University, the Network established the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only four-year medical school campus.\u00a0 It also operates the nation\u2019s longest continuously operating School of Nursing, established in 1884, and 45 fully accredited graduate medical educational programs with more than 400 residents and fellows. In 2022, St. Luke\u2019s, a member of the Children\u2019s Hospital Association, opened the Lehigh Valley\u2019s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to kids.<\/p>\n SLUHN is the only Lehigh Valley-based health care system to earn Medicare\u2019s\u00a0five-star<\/em>\u00a0ratings (the highest) for quality, efficiency and patient satisfaction.\u00a0 It is both a Leapfrog Group and Healthgrades\u00a0Top Hospital<\/em>\u00a0and a Newsweek World\u2019s\u00a0Best Hospital<\/em>.\u00a0 The Network\u2019s flagship University Hospital has earned the\u00a0100 Top Major Teaching Hospital<\/em>\u00a0designation from Fortune\/PINC AI 11 times total and eight years in a row, including in 2023 when it was identified as THE #4 TEACHING HOSPITAL IN THE COUNTRY.\u00a0 In 2021, St. Luke\u2019s was identified as one of the\u00a015 Top Health Systems<\/em>\u00a0nationally.\u00a0 Utilizing the Epic electronic medical record (EMR) system for both inpatient and outpatient services, the Network is a multi-year recipient of the\u00a0Most Wired<\/em>\u00a0award recognizing the breadth of the SLUHN\u2019s information technology applications such as telehealth, online scheduling and online pricing information. \u00a0The Network is also recognized as one of the state\u2019s lowest cost providers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Information provided to TVL by: When Rick Edmund conquered the hike up a butte in South Dakota\u2019s Custer State Park with his granddaughter last year, he had a big smile on his face and offered … Continue reading Local Pastor Hikes with Granddaughter Thanks to St. Luke\u2019s Expert Heart Care<\/span>
\nSam Kennedy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"