John
Kimbrell is no novice when it
comes to meeting life’s tougher challenges.
He’s a father and grandfather and the
owner of an oil and gas company, and, as
of spring 2013, he was bicycling 125 miles
each week.
That’s about the time he started
noticing an “odd feeling” in his arms and
chest during his bike rides, as well as a
drop in performance. John’s primary care
physician referred him to cardiologist
Imran Afridi, MD, on the medical staff at
Methodist Dallas Medical Center.
“I pretty much failed my stress test,
so we ended up doing an angiogram
[coronary X-ray],” John says. “I had
extensive blockage in several arteries.
Dr. Afridi wasn’t even sure how I was
still walking around.”
That very day, he was introduced to
John Jay, MD, thoracic surgeon on the
medical staff at Methodist Dallas.
“He came to my bedside and clearly
outlined the options for me to consider:
stents or bypass surgery,” John says. “I had
the bypass surgery in November.”
Planning his tour de force
Two months after surgery, John was
referred to the Folsom Fitness and
Rehabilitation Center at Methodist Dallas.
“My care team was wonderful,” he says.
“Everything felt well-coordinated and
well-managed. The staff members’ positive
encouragement, combined with the support
of my wife, who’s walked with me every step
of the way of this journey, helped me get
started in the right direction for my recovery.
In fact, John started setting
recovery goals as soon as he woke up
from surgery.
“You should have something to work
toward,” he says. “It may sound cliché,
but you’ve got to realize that you’ve been
given a second chance.”
Within a few weeks of his release from
cardiac rehabilitation, John was walking
five miles a day. About three months after
surgery, Dr. Jay approved his return to
long-distance biking.
“In February, I was able to celebrate
my birthday the way I’d been celebrating
it for years — by riding my age in miles,”
John says. “This year, it was 63 miles in
4½ hours. When the anniversary of my
surgery rolls around in November, I plan
to ride 100 miles.”
Going the
distance
for heart health
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HEART HEALTH
Methodist Dallas Medical Center
•
❁
Fall 2014
7
Successful bypass
surgery at Methodist
Dallas meant that
John Kimbrell didn’t
have to bypass his
favorite activity:
long-distance biking.
