A few weeks ago, Franklin Wall was at work when he started experiencing chest pains. “I was on my way to a meeting and about half way down the hall, my chest started hurting,” explained Wall. “By the time I got to the meeting, I was still in pain. I sat down and was fidgeting around a little bit, trying to get comfortable, but I couldn’t. The meeting started and as it went on, I started feeling worse. I was sweating quite a bit, so I leaned over on the chair beside me and was slumping down when a guy sitting a couple of chairs over from me asked me if I was alright. I told him no and that I thought I was in trouble.”
After this, Wall’s co-workers knew they needed to act fast. “Where I work, we have a first responders group that is trained to give early assistance if needed,” Wall said. “They took my blood pressure, which ended up being really low. My wife works at the same facility, so they called her and then immediately called the Broken Arrow rescue squad to rush me to Oklahoma Heart Institute. As soon as we were in the hospital, there were countless people trying to figure out what was going on by getting me hooked up to the machines.”
It didn’t take long after arriving to find the root of the problem. “They told me that I had one artery that was 100% blocked,” said Wall. “They took me right into surgery to clear out the artery and put in a few stints. After the surgery, they took me into my room and I could already tell that I was feeling better. Of course, I still had some discomfort for a day or so, but after that, the uneasiness wore off. Dr. Raj Chandwaney, Cardiologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute, was the doctor in the emergency room with me and the one who performed my procedure. He was in my room several times giving updates, checking up on me and asking if I had any questions.”
For Wall, there are many people he would like to thank for his positive experience at Oklahoma Heart Institute. “From the nurses to the folks that came by to take my blood, to those that came in to do EKG’s and bring the food, I want to thank them all,” expressed Wall. “There were so many people I couldn’t even count, but they all did such a good job and I really appreciate everything they did. There was no time wasted from the moment I was put in the ambulance to the moment I left the hospital. Everything happened like it was supposed to happen. Every person at Oklahoma Heart Institute did a marvelous job.”
The road to recovery has been smooth for Wall thus far. “Dr. Chandwaney said there’s a bit of permanent damage in one area and some minor damage in another that he hopes is temporary and will heal up over time,” said Wall. “For what happened, the damage was pretty minimal. I was amazed at how well I was feeling so quickly after it all happened. I’ve been taking it easy at home and haven’t felt any side effects”
This was not Wall’s first time as a patient at Oklahoma Heart Institute. “In January of 2016, I started feeling a fluttering in my heart and noticed that things were wearing me out quicker,” Wall explained. “It didn’t seem to be an urgent thing, so I didn’t think too much about it. In early March, I was at my annual appointment with my regular physician, so I mentioned it to him. He hooked me up to an EKG and told me that I had AFib. After this, he referred me to Dr. Mathew Good, Cardiologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute. Dr. Good examined me and then scheduled a scope procedure to check everything out. After the procedure, Dr. Good told me I didn’t have AFib, I had Atrial Flutter so they kept me overnight and performed another procedure to fix the problem. Even that first time around, I received excellent care.”
Wall wants his gratitude to be heard by everyone at Oklahoma Heart Institute. “Oftentimes, when there’s a bad situation or someone doesn’t like the care they’ve received, they will immediately start complaining and pointing fingers,” said Wall. “When people do their job and do it well, it can be overlooked or taken for granted. I don’t want that to be the case here. I want every person at Oklahoma Heart Institute to know that I greatly appreciated what they did for me and want them to be recognized.”