Tammy Anderson’s husband started experiencing heart problems in the winter of 2018. During this time, her blood pressure became alarmingly high. “Whenever my husband went in for his heart cath, his cardiologist, Dr. Arash Karnama, checked my blood pressure and after seeing the numbers, told me he wanted to see me the following week,” said Anderson.…

Vernon Anderson’s father passed away at age 54 after suffering a heart attack. Upon turning 54, Anderson wanted to take the preventative steps to make sure he didn’t end up in the same situation as his father. “I went in to see my cardiologist, Dr. Arash Karnama, and had an EKG done,” said Anderson. “The results…

March 2019 marked 30 years since the beginning of Oklahoma Heart Institute (OHI). In celebration of this milestone, Dr. Wayne Leimbach, one of the founders of OHI and current medical director, shared what technologies he has been most impressed with during this time and what’s he’s most excited to see in the future at OHI. “When…

Karen Langston started working for Hillcrest HealthCare System in the 1970s. “I worked as a unit secretary for a few years, left for a while then came back in 1977 and started the radiologist technologist program that was offered at the time,” said Langston. Upon graduating from the program in 1980, Langston began working in…

Pete Dubois was out riding his bicycle in the spring of 2016, one of his favorite hobbies, when he started feeling bad. “I felt so awful I ended up going to the hospital,” said Dubois. “Over the next few months, I had several stents put in and then underwent an open heart procedure.” In the…

Please join us in welcoming Wendell Williams, M.D., our new cardiologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute. He is now seeing patients at our Muskogee clinic. Williams, who is originally from St. Louis, is a third generation doctor and led a cardiology practice in St. Louis for more than 20 years before moving to Jefferson City. For the last…

Heart attacks in younger people are becoming increasingly more common, especially in women. This could likely be due to the increase in the prevalence of the risks factor for heart attack and stroke in young adults, according to Wayne Leimbach, M.D., medical director of Oklahoma Heart Institute. “This was predicted to happen more than 15…

Oklahoma Heart Institute provides comprehensive endocrinology care. By focusing on the needs of the patients, endocrinologists can develop individualized treatment plans. Dr. Cristin Bruns, endocrinologist at Oklahoma Heart Institute, is telling us more about the types of diseases that fall under the umbrella of endocrinology care and how she approaches diabetes care. “As an endocrinologist, I…

Nora Connelly had tried what felt like every diet program on the market. While out shopping with her mother in Utica Square, she ran into an old family friend. Upon seeing her, Connelly was shocked at her appearance. “When I ran into her, she was half the person that I’ve always known her to be,”…

Jenn Jordan has struggled with her weight since she was a teenager. For more than 25 years, she was consistently trying to figure out what to do to get to a healthy weight for her body. “I was always the heaviest one in my family, my group of friends or just a group of people…