This summer Neva Terry will celebrate her 73rd birthday in June. The following month marks her second anniversary since being diagnosed and treated for heart disease. “My only hope was to live at least a month to see my middle grandson marry,” admits Neva of being told she had severe heart block. “Now it has been two…

At the age of 33, Melissa Futrell went to the Emergency Department when a bad headache wouldn’t go away. She had started to slur her speech and wasn’t sure what was causing her symptoms. She was diagnosed with a “complex migraine” and referred to a neurologist. Melissa started medication for the migraine, but also noticed…

As the saying goes, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” While researchers have long known the health benefits of eating a diet high in fiber, new research points to one large benefit for heart attack victims – survival. The study of survivors of myocardial infarction found an increased fiber intake, especially of cereal…

Oklahoma Heart Institute was the first in Oklahoma to implant the Medtronic Reveal LINQ Insertable Cardiac Monitoring System in two patients this week. This device is the smallest cardiac monitoring system available and is one-third the size of a AAA battery, making it 80 percent smaller than other implantable cardiac monitoring systems. This device allows…

Danielle LeVeck, RN, BSN, CCRN, and Vic Tackett, RN, BSN, CCRN, couldn’t imagine doing anything different than working as cardiac critical care nurses at Oklahoma Heart Institute.  It is a path neither started on, however, as they worked towards their college degrees, but yet it has led them to CV ICU on the third floor at the hospital. Their…

How many times a day do you stop to think about your heart? Are you thankful for the 72 beats per minute, 100,000 beats a day or 38 million beats each year? Or, do you only stop to think about your heart when you notice it missed a beat? For many of us, the organ with the…

As the doors of the elevator open on the second floor of the Bell II building, where Hillcrest Exercise and Lifestyle Programs is located, Carol Lambert carries a platter of fruit and a heart of gratitude as she encounters familiar faces. She is returning for her normal workout at 4:00 p.m. and greeted by Supervisor…